What to eat! By Jason Schwartzman

http://www.platetoplanet.org/

INTERESTED IN VEGANISM?

I meant to post this a while ago: A list of recommended websites and literature for anyone interested in becoming vegan or any curious cats out there:


LITERATURE!

Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating, Revised Edition
Erik Marcus
One of the first books I read about veganism- explains the vegan lifestyle from all angles, answers almost EVERY question you can have.

Animal Liberation
Peter Singer
What can I say- The dude roooolz. He started this movement in the '70s and like Zeppelin, it still rocks (we read him in class, some of you have mixed opinions about him, but to each his/her own).

The Dietitian's Guide to Vegetarian Diets
Messina, Mark, and Virginia Messina
Everything you need to know from the health and wellness standpoint. Also probably the book your parents will be most interested in.

Fast Food Nation
Eric Schlosser
Basically "What goes on before they call your number." The icky, sticky truth.

Living Among Meat Eaters
Carol Adams
Let's face it- they've got us surrounded!



INTERWEBZ!

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/ Subscribing to the magazine is not a bad idea. I have a lot of fun and have learned much from reading it.

http://www.theppk.com POST PUNK KITCHEN! You can see I'm excited. It's at the top of my bookmarks list; the chick who runs the site have also written many of my favorite cookbooks (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengence, etc.) To put it plainly, I would give up peanut butter for a week to hang out with Isa Chandra Moskowitz for a little while- and that's saying a lot.

http://www.vegan.org/Vegan Action's campaigns have made life a lot smoother for many vegans- also a great site for more resources! Check it out.

http://human-animal-liberation.blogspot.com/ A pretty good answer to "Why are you worrying about chickens when there are suffering humans out there?"


There are so many more great resources, but these are just the first ones I took a look at and were explanatory and interesting enough to get me pumped on veganism.
Good luck/Have fun
Again, I would love to talk to anyone who is down to in person about veganism or any related topics =) (ashtryba@gmail.com)

Fear the Pitt Bull

I was searching pictures of pit bulls and came across this blog entry:

http://hubpages.com/hub/pit-bull

The blog itself and many of the comments show a common mindset towards pit bulls. I just thought it was an example of breed discrimination and showed how important it is to inform people.

SPAY AND NEUTER

Claire Tillman

After listening to Claire Tillman and her experiences with humane education i began thinking about the possibility of myself becoming a humane educator. As she said in class she sometimes has a hard time reaching the kids in class due to racial, ethnic, and class differences. I can not imagine how frustrating it must be to try and get these kids to understand the message she is giving, or to expose them to things such as animal cruelty, and have them laugh at her because they just do not understand do to cultural differences. Her presentation reminded me of another encounter i had at the Pit Bull Placebo discussion earlier in the semester. At this discussion i met the director of a Humane Society of America program geared towards ending dog fighting. We discussed her role in preventing dog fighting through education. During our conversation Mick Vick came up, he is part of the same campaign she directs. His role is to go out to inner city schools in Philadelphia and talk to the students about the negative impact dog fighting has in many facets of life. Though she admitted to disliking him strongly, the director i spoke with said that she does respect him. He is reaching out to the community, sincerely trying to end dog fighting, and is reaching an audience that she, as a white middle class woman would be unable to reach. I found it interesting that Vick, a former dog fighter, is having an effective role in fighting to end dog fighting, while people like Claire Tillman and possibly me one day will struggle to have our message heard.

Claire Tillman and Humane Education - Grace Spring

I was very fortunate to grow up in an animal-loving household. I have always been surrounded by dogs and cats and other critters in my home, so not only have I been able to spend time with and learn to relate to animals, but I also have been able to develop a profound love and respect for them. In many areas, for example race and culture, the less you know about something or someone, the more misconceptions and misunderstanding you will typically have. I believe this holds true for animal-human relations as well. People who have had little contact with companion animals may not understand how to properly care for them or how they should be treated. Furthermore, people, especially children, who have been exposed to animals in a negative way, whether it be through dog-fighting, backyard breeding, or other negative experiences, typically do not interact with animals in a healthy, mutually beneficial way. I believe humane education and awareness is the answer.

After listening to Claire Tillman speak, I feel even more strongly about the positive changes associated with simply educating people, mainly children, on correct animal relations. Especially in Philadelphia where many children see animals on the street or being abused in households, it is essential that passionate people like Claire provide accurate information on caring for and interacting with companion animals.

When I ran my guinea pig rescue in high school, I would first hold a one-on-one education meeting with potential adopters on proper guinea pig care, so that they could then buy the correct supplies and prepare for their new pet. I would frequently be shocked by the misconceptions people had about proper care, some of which came for seemingly legitimate websites! No, guinea pigs can not live in cages the size of a shoebox. Yes, guinea pigs need fresh vegetables. No, you can not file their teeth down with a nail filer. I realized the need for accurate care information early on, but I continually had doubts as to how much was 'sinking in' and how much people remember a few weeks or months later.

Claire had the same problem, which she touched on in her presentation. She mentioned the need to give supplementary presentations and frequently returned to schools multiple times to reinforce what she had taught. I am also thinking about how to best get through to people in terms of my CBL project for Pitbull Awareness Day. How am I going to be able to influence people in the few moments they stop by my booth? I want to impart on them the importance of avoiding petstores at all costs and saving the lives of homeless animals instead, but how to best accomplish that is not an easily answered question. I am hoping that through concise explanations, mildly graphic pictures, and flyers to take with them, the word will get spread . . . at least throughout Temple :)

Reaction to Claire - Mary Penxa

I found Claire's presentation moving on a lot of accounts. First and foremost I thought it was awesome that she does her presentations for children so young. I think that the younger we start educating the youth on these important issues, the more likely they are to have a positive impact.

As a future educator myself, I was eager to see how Claire approaches these different topics and issues with kids as young as eight and nine years old. I loved how interactive the presentation was, it was really engaging and I think this is most likely extremely successful for kids who may not always have the longest attention span. I found the images rather rough for children so young to see, but commend Claire for taking the initiative and really branching out and not sugar coating the issues for these young students.

This point in particular really made me think a lot about how people are shielded from these things and it often times has a way of breeding ignorance on this and many other topics. When I was volunteering at the PSPCA a mother and a child were waiting outside of the dog room, the little girl commented that she wanted to go in and look at the dogs.

"No, I don't want you to see that. You're too young." told the mother to the confused daughter, and truth be told it really made me sad.

When people are kept from seeing what is happening, it almost allows them to believe the problem isn't that bad. I know many people personally that say they could never volunteer at an animal shelter because it would be too hard for them to have to see the animals like that. I do admit it is very hard, but it's easy to see that if people distance themselves from these problems how they can almost forget about them in a sense.

This is why I believe Claire's presentation was particularly effective. She didn't shy away from the real heart of the problem she was addressing and quite honestly her presentation will probably stick with those kids much longer than it would have if she hadn't shown them any images at all.

All in all the presentation was great and it really did show that a big part of the solution to the problem of animal mistreatment comes in our youth, because they are the future.

-Mary Penxa

The fight for power

So after listening to Claire Tillman's talk on Friday, and thinking about our discussion on the dogfighting essay today, I was stuck thinking about male stereotypes and what it means to "be a man".

Claire mentioned on Friday that one version of animal abuse comes from young boys not knowing any better. In my opinion, it's the same mentality boys get when they feel the need to destroy stuff. Just the fact that they can be destructive and hurtful makes them feel powerful. They may not grasp the full extent and meaning behind what they're doing, but I think there is a definite subconscious issue of men needing to have power. Boys see it from an early age and want power too, and continue to have that thirst throughout their life. In turn, they become an example to other little boys, creating a vicious cycle.

I think this idea of trying to grasp power also connects to dogfighting. As stated in essay 1 of the anthology, there is a clear stigma attached to having a prize fighting dog. There is a sense of honor, which in essence is respect, which in essence is power. This idea of dogfighting as a way of life, is really just men looking for a way to have power, yet again. It's amazing to me the lengths to which men will go to feel or seem "manly". Granted, I'm making a large overgeneralization here, but I think even on a small scale, there is a thirst for power in the mob mentality of men. Whether they are demonstrating it through their prize fighting dog, or by claiming use of the remote control, there is a desire for power and control.

Let me clarify my statement there. I'm not saying the urge for power is necessarily bad on the whole. As long as kept in check, a healthy thirst for power can be good. It feeds determination, ambition, perseverance, etc. But power is also at the root of the alpha male mentality, and the impetus for early on animal abuse by children as well as dogfighting by adults.

Is Our Children Learnin’?

I’ll start with the famous quote from our distinguished former president. After all, it highlights an important question. Remember folks, in this new world order, there’s no child left behind! Readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmatic, we’ve got it all covered. Now, people keep talking about this “empathy” thing; empathy for other “living things.” But does that score well on tests? No sir! See, we need to cut things like “empathy” and “respect” from the curriculum. Life skills, emotional competency, love of fellow creatures? These are all secondary to the product of test scores. And let’s face it, the budget doesn’t allow for “secondary” learning. And animals? Do we truly even NEED empathy towards animals? I mean, when all of the children in a 3rd grade class have witnessed a dog fight, that’s pretty much a lost cause.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the literature. Dogs are status symbols in communities. They’re objectified creatures that bestow social power on their owners through some sort of manly osmosis. Children don’t need to care about status symbols as living creatures. They just need to know how to use them to become properly gendered within society. Is that not enough to convince you that education on animal welfare is useless? Fine. Let’s look at the general public perception of pit bulls. People view them as nothing more than evil, vicious menaces to society. People don’t trust pits around their children. They don’t believe there’s any good in the breed. Now really, can some basic education prevent such a widespread public belief? You can’t force people to change their minds after the media gets through with them.

I’ve laid out all the facts. The answer should be pretty clear - There’s no point in educating children in animal welfare. Society teaches them two things: Animals are tools and objects to be used for human gain, and animals can easily be stereotyped and classified into simple categories. We should not education children in animal empathy. We should not show them the consequences of using animals as tools. After all, there is no way that teaching them simple facts they may have been unaware of will lead them to make better choices regarding humane actions. There’s absolutely no possibility that learning compassion towards animals will teach children compassion towards other human beings. Most of all, teaching children to care about the non-human animals in the world around them will never enable them to see the world from a broader and more enlightened perspective.

No, the choice is clear. Educating children about animal welfare is a waste of time. After all, test scores can be measured for progress. Kindness and compassion is immeasurable in its rewards.

Insights after Claire's Presentation

I found Claire’s presentation on Friday extremely insightful. I was very impressed by the impact her humane education classes had on Philly students and the community. What I found most shocking was that every third grader in one of the classes had attended a dogfight. It really put into perspective for me the prevalence of dog fighting in the city. It has made me think more critically about the reasons why the dogs I see at the PSPCA are there. On Saturday I noticed the fact sheet on one of the pit bulls read, “reason for intake: Abuse/cruelty.” Another dog’s skin was growing back after a case of mange. I wonder if these dogs could have been involved in dog fighting and how many of the dogs at the PSPCA are rescued from dog fighting rings.

Also, Claire’s presentation furthered my understanding of the connection between animal cruelty and child abuse. This is something I have been thinking about since viewing Earthlings. The documentary shows film of workers at factory farms in charge of shooting animals unconscious with air guns. Some of the workers taunted the animals while doing this. Others went out their way to hurt animals unnecessarily. I wondered if the constant exposure to violence against animals incited this cruel behavior and what effect it had on their personal lives. If they could hurt a squealing pig, which was obviously in pain, could that transfer to abusing another human being? There certainly seems to be a link between cruelty to companion animals and cruelty to humans. Could there also be a connection in the factory farming industry? I was reminded of novel I read recently, Butcher Boy by Pat McCabe, in which a young teen becomes a butcher’s assistant and shoots pigs with an air gun. Later, he kills a woman using that gun. Granted, the character showed strong signs of mental instability throughout the book and it is a fictional story. But could this story hint at reality?

Also, Claire’s presentation showed me that humane education is worthwhile and necessary. I am a secondary education major at Temple. Within a year or two I may be a teacher in a junior high or high school, possibly in the Philadelphia area. At the secondary level, many teachers and administrators resist activities which take away from content area instruction. As a future educator, I can advocate for the inclusion of humane education, invite people like Claire to work with my class, or incorporate elements of humane education into my content area. As I teacher I have a duty to help my students become responsible adults and citizens. Humane education is an important strategy to meet this goal.

Claire Tillman's Presentation

First, Claire Tillman's method and motive of her humane education movement is excellent. It is so important for young people to learn about how to treat/care for an animal and what behavior is unacceptable. This all goes back to the original questions of the class: How should we treat animals, like people or lower than people. Are animals moral patients (some yes and some no, some non-human animals give more to their "owners" then owners to animal) or are they individuals (yes) or are "objects" (no)? Of course, parents teach children how to play with other children and not to hit, but when it comes to animals parents don't really sit down and say don't harm an animal because you think it is fun/funny. Claire is changing this, she is going into schools and telling children how to and not to interact with animals. While this may seem like something small and isolated, I believe Claire's statement that these session with her about animal cruelty can change a class room and the kids. I also agree that kids have a lot of power in a household, and can say we aren't caring for this animal the right way, let's make it better. This is going to start changing children's minds about animals and when they have children they will automatically pass along this message and the cruelty and abuse cases will go down. Maybe the children can't get their mom or dad to stop dog fighting, but he or she when they are older will not dog fight, and will have overall a more compassionate view of animals and will slowly change the view of animals. Maybe in five generations of this process, animal cruelty will be such an issue and have so much support that animal law can cover ALL animals and farm animals will start to be protected and respected. Claire also taught me some new things, I never really thought of animal hoarding as cruelty, but it most definitely is. When I thought of cruelty I thought of abuse and hurting not hoarding, but one person can help a lot of animals but there becomes a point when taking in more animals will be bad for all animals. So some animals do suffer as the cost of some getting better treatment, because it becomes bad for all if there are too many cats or dogs in one house. Claire is making a difference, and I hope someone can walk away from any of our tables at Pit bull Awareness Day or Earth Day and feel that they have been some how enlightened or changed.

Claire Tillman's Presentation

I really enjoyed Claire’s presentation. What I was really affected by in her talk was her choice to devote her animal welfare efforts on education for children. I have thought about it before, but her discussion really made me see the importance of teaching children about the proper treatment of animals at an early age. I was surprised and saddened when she said many of the children she teaches have witnessed abuse in their own homes. I can imagine how difficult it must be to incite change in these children when they see this type of animal mistreatment every day. It must be very confusing for them to be told in the classroom that what their family members or neighbors are doing is wrong. The presentation led me to see the need for these children to have people to look to for an example of how to treat animals.

Another point Claire brought up which upset me was the connection between how a person treats animals and they way they treat people. If an adult figure in a child’s life abuses animals, how do they treat the child? When an adult brings a child to a dogfight, what are they instilling in that child and how will it affect him or her in the future.

Overall, the presentation has inspired me to potentially seek out humane education opportunities in the future. It is vital to start while children are young, teaching them why abuse is wrong so they do not continue the trend when they become adults. It makes me wish that I would have considered the CBL project as an opportunity to reach out to the children of the community who deserve to learn the truth about how to treat animals.

Humane Education for Children

I loved Claire Tillman’s presentation on humane education. Her approach to it was very cool because she treated us as though we were one of her elementary school classes so we could get a feel for how she actually goes about humane education for children. After seeing the images she shows them, I can imagine how much her presentations might affect them because I’m 21 years old and two days later I’m still haunted by those pictures and stories. The part that really haunts me the most though is when she told us that every single serial killer has started off by abusing animals. Obviously not all people who abuse animals become serial killers, but it can definitely be said that people who abuse animals are walking down a dangerous path. The dogfighting article we had to read for class from Anthology 1 talks about how men get involved in dogfighting and why. It says that in American, qualities that men consider a part of masculinity are assertiveness, aggressiveness, strength, and competitiveness. Men partake in dogfighting because it is a way to show off how competitive and aggressive they can be through using a dog to represent them. Teenage boys, or even adults, think lighting cats on fire and throwing rocks at dogs is cool because it shows their assertive power over the animal and the aggression they can put out. This makes me wonder, if society didn’t consider these qualities so admirable, would there be less abuse in the world? If manliness meant showing respect, having wisdom, setting a good example, what reason would they have to harm animals? I guess that’s why it’s so important to teach children about this stuff because they’re the future society; they’re the only way to change what’s cool and what’s not.

Animal rights as Human rights

I really agreed with Claire's approach to humane education, which she came to as she realized that transporting animals and helping out in shelters was really only putting band-aid on the problem, as she described it. Educating the young has great possibilities as a form of activism because it can change an entire generation and generally addresses the root causes of the problem instead of the just the symptoms (which is a big problem for most groups I feel). The way she talks with kids whose families are directly involved with dogfighting and sometimes animal abuse really undscored for me the necessity of education. The other things I like about education is that it places the responsibility on those who commit crimes, not on the abstract concept of "society." What Claire said about the connection between those who abuse animals and those who abuse their families and serial killers really resonated with me. I thought of domestic violence and rape prevention programs. The rape programs often place all the responsibility and focus on the woman and don't educate men, thus not addressing the root causes. Domestic violence too, I feel, do not always address the root causes and having shelters for battered women is great and very important, but so is addressing WHY so many women are being abused (and this starts by telling men not to abuse their wives, girlfriends, children, etc.). It seems to me that animal rights are not this separate, different box from human rights, but really intrinsically tied to it. Those who care about animals (or, I should say non-human animals, because there is a tendency to forget that we are all animals) should also care about humans, and vice versa.