THE VEGETARIAN BLOG

The other day I saw amazing footage of a massive rescue operation involving bulls. Santa Catalina Island, a few miles off the California coast, became the breeding ground of non-native bulls taken there in 1925 as part of a silent film. And they bred all right. In order to avoid the auctioning of the animals and their possible killing, IDA (In Defense of Animals) managed to remove part of the bull population back to where they belong: South Dakota. The rescue operation of the 105 animals involved several barges across 23 miles of ocean, then 1,800 miles by highway to South DakotaIDA now has the opportunity to rescue and relocate 150 more buffalo so they can join their cousings on Standing Rock, South Dakota. The organization needs $35,000 to get the job done. So, if you can spare a little bit of money, you could make all the difference to these gorgeous animals and avoid a huge amount of future suffering.

It really baffles me when people say they hate non-human animals. What have they done to us? If anything, it’s humans who have done a lot of damage to other species. It’s specially dangerous when politicians go around saying they hate animals, as did Idaho Governor Butch Otter.Wolves were only taken off the Endangered Species List in Idaho in May, 2009, but Mr Otter was very quick to not only endorse the proposed trophy hunt this fall, he’s vowed to participate in it.He told a group of hunters, “I’m prepared to bid for the first ticket to shoot a wolf myself.” The wolf hunt is an apparent effort to boost elk populations for hunters to slaughter, and will begin on September 1, 2009.Adding insult to injury, Mr Otter told The Idaho Statesman:  ”You can still hate them and respect their cunning and their place in nature.” The permit to kill a wolf costs $11.50 - with 220 wolves set to be killed state-wide. A life for $11.50 - what kind of world do we live in?Animal rights and veganism-promoting organization Friends of Animals’ president was outraged and decided to call for a boycott of potatoes produced in Idaho. “Gov. Otter’s enthusiasm for wolf killing not only demonstrates a complete lack of conscience and understanding of the word ‘respect,’ it shows a lack of respect for nature and the ecosystem; wolves don’t need Gov. Otter—or anyone else—to manage them”, says Feral.”As long as Idaho is in the business of killing wolves, the nature-respecting public should stop buying potatoes there.” Look for potatoes grown in Maine, Colorado, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and other states, advises the organization.Friends of Animals is a non-profit, international animal advocacy organization, founded in 1957. Its goal is to cultivate a respectful view of non-human animals, freeing them from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation around the world.