Food: A Dark and Dangerous Place

Last week I attempted to do an update with regard to the Pet Food Recall and got side tracked: Pet Food Recall: Trail of Tears, which gives a heart wrenching account of the loss of my Golden Retriever, Annie Oakley. Today, I wanted to get an update on China’s baby milk poisoning and landed on ‘Police arrest underground gang ‘poisoning baby milk for profit’. The contamination has led to China’s worst food safety crisis.

This week, I’m taking a long look into centuries of food industry practices. Practices which began innocently enough, but, in many instances have developed into a dark and dangerous business; bringing disease and death to the planets inhabitants!

The Truth Will Sit You Free!

There are hundreds of reports and stories about the ongoing Pet Food Recall and its continued impact to our pets. What seems most important after reading these reports is to pass on what I’ve learned and to keep linking together with others who have similar concerns; doing so gives more credibility and a more effective means of convincing people to change what they and their furry friends eat!

The sense to be made of the Pet Food Recall and the ongoing tragedy is not something most people want to know. Knowing means you find a truth. What you do with the truth is what counts. My advise is to take a journey. Take time to take a deep look into the Pet Food Recall before you make any decision. For me, the journey has taken some horrific and outrageous trails. Read more

911: Canine Leads Man to Safety

Dorado was lying under his blind master’s desk on the 71st floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower when the plane hit. Glass and flying debre was everywhere. Chaos surrounded them. Omar Eduardo Rivera knew he was doomed. There is know way he could manuver through the chaos. The kindest thing he thought was to free Dorado. He released Dorado from his harness. Minutes later he felt a fuzzy brush on his leg and Dorado nudged him and lead Eduardo to the hall and stairwell.

In the stairwell Eduardo found a co-worker and together the three journeded for over an hour down the stairwell.

Faithful Dog Leads Blind Man 70 Floors Down WTC Just Before Tower Collapses!

Photo Credit:

Mr. Rivera and a little hero.
(Photo: REUTERS / Caracol Tv)

Aphrodite: Feline Extraordinare

When I first met Aphrodite; she was up for grabs, a ‘Nine Lives’a Rescue service feline. Scrawny and lanky; she needed a big name, as clearly she could not have been the pick of the litter. She was maybe a year old or so. No one, apparently wanted her; well, I was looking for a mouser and thought she might fill the bill. I took her home.

One of the first things I did was take her to the veterinarian for an exam and shots. My vet discovered she had a fairly large hole in her heart; her time on earth was limited.

It’s seven years later. Aphrodite wanted to be the only feline in the house; and she was for the first six ears. Last year I attempted to introduce two other cats; one at a time into our household.

Tommy was given to me by good friends on New Years day 2007. He was about 4 months old. Playful and beautiful. He disappeared six months later, on June 3rd. There are lots of fox and coyote in the area and I was sure either one got him or a neighbor scooped him up. I posted posters and looked in the area for months. Later, in November I saw him on our street, absent his tail. He was walking in the direction of home. I made the mistake of stopping my car and scared him. He ran the other direction, entering the yard of a nearby house. My theory is he barely escaped a fox and a neighbor rescued him and kept him in her house all these six months.

In March this year I adopted Ami. I found her on the Pikes Peak Humane Society’s web site and went down and picked her up the next day. She looks a little like Tommy. She is very mellow, sweet and calm. Ami disappeared last Friday. She has a ‘chip’ and I have posted her as lost.

I was taking my friends’ dogs and my Pieper for a hike today. We were gone about an hour.When we returned, I went into the laundry room; there lay Aphrodite on a purple sheet that Ami used to lay on. I knew right away that she was not alive. However, she looked as if she had just layed down to take a nap.

All I could think of was how impatient I had become with her. She had begun pooping on the floor instead of the litter box. Then this morning when I found she had peed on the floor in the laundry room, I said, “Aphrodite, what’s up with this?” All the time knowing I had been distracted dog sitting two dogs and Pieper makes three. I kept telling her to be patient that pretty soon, today, as a matter of fact, it would just be Pieper and her. Then I would give her some much needed attention.

She looks so peaceful. Her body was limp when I came home. Her little heart had finally stopped beating. I honor her little life; I’m reminded how very precious life is; how could one so small have layed such heavy tracks on my heart? Now, I have placed her little body on a clean floral pillow case in her favorite bed and placed her on her cat tree where she loved to look out. She is directly behind me, as she had been for so much of my time writing. Ever so often she would come in front of the monotor, as if to say, ‘it’s my turn!’

Burning tears fill my eyes and throat, my heart aches. Aphrodite lived a much longer life than the veterinarian thought; I gave her the best home I could. She will be missed.

11 Things We Can Do To Cut Expenses or How to Beat the ‘Gas Woes’!

Recently, after a minor fender bender, I put my car into a body. I chose not to have a rental; thinking I would spend time at home doing things around the house and save gas.

After spending three and a half days at home: cooking, eating, sleeping, watching Animal Planet, the news, movies, working on my lack of lawn, going through and getting rid of ’stuff’, I called my sister, a few friends, wrote two posts, installed Photoshop CS3 (anyone know a good beginners class?), and visited Steve and Marsha (a hike away) for some icy blended drink and talk about retirement life. Yes, it’s been a relatively easy first week of retirement.

Staying home was not difficult. However, by Thursday I wanted and needed to get out of the house. I called my insurance to arrange for a rental and treated myself and Pieper (my companion and Golden Retriever) to a hike and swim. The trip to where we hike and swim is about a 20 minute drive and a 30 minute hike. The temperature was a whopping 91 degrees. When you are over a mile high…well, we were cooking. Unfortunately, Pieper is the only one allowed to swim in the reservoir; I’m left panting on the shore.

After the hike and swim, my normal routine, in an effort to coordinate trips and conserve gas, is to stop at the market on the way home. I’ll find some shade and park; leave the windows half way down in my Blazer, and Pieper being damp is fine while I pick up a few items at the grocery.

The rental car (a 2007 Ford Focus), had huge windows all around, letting far too much sun into the car. The car would hardly cool down with the airconditionair on maximum! No way was I going to leave Pieper in this car. I passed the market, did not collect groceries and went directly home.

Read more

Journeys With My Canine

DEFINING WILDNESS AND HOWLING IN THE WILDERNESS

One evening, I went on a tiny journey with my canine Pieper: We ‘howled’ together and I watched as Pieper transformed. Her eyes got this untamed wildness in them. How exciting to see and hear the wildness in her. I felt pretty wild myself and wonder about this wildness. What does ‘wildness’ mean? Mariam Webster says to be ‘wild’ is: uncontrolled, unruly, stormy, fantastic, senstional and barbaric.

WHAT LURKS IN THE WILD?

Hum, I do understand Webster’s perspective; however, what lurks in the ‘wild’ sometimes defies definition. I read about a cat named Oscar in a Providence, R.I. nursing home that has a sixth sense: Oscar can predict when a resident is about to pass away. Pets have extraordinary healing power. Our canines have the ability to know when someone is sick or dying, they sense our emotions. These areas of the ‘wild’ are more difficult to measure and define. I believe we have only scratched the surface of the secrets animals and nature hold.

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The Way of Animals: Plight of The Sumatran Tiger

TRAFFIC: CONSUMERS PARTNERS IN WILDLIFE CRIME

Today, the Sumatran tiger is being sold Body part by body part into extinction! The Sumatran tiger is listed as Critically Endangered on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, the highest category of threat before extinction in the wild. “We cannot afford to lose any more of these magnificent creatures”, says Jane Smart, Head of IUCN’s Species Programme.TRAFFIC INDIA, the wildlife trade monitoring network says end consumers are as much partners in wildlife crime as those who deal in or hunt protected species of wildlife. TRAFFIC says:

Tiger body parts, including canine teeth, claws, skin pieces, whiskers and bones, were on sale in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets surveyed during 2006 in 28 cities and towns across Sumatra. Outlets included goldsmiths, souvenir and traditional Chinese medicine shops, and shops selling antique and precious stones.

HUMAN TIGER CONFLICTS

Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme says this is an enforcement crisis.

Dr Tonny Soehartono, Director for Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Forestry of Republic of Indonesia. “We have been struggling with the issues of land use changes, habitat fragmentation, human-tiger conflicts and poverty in Sumatra. Land use changes and habitat fragmentation are driving the tiger closer to humans and thus creating human-tiger conflicts”.

HOW MANY LEFT?

The latest report was launched the day after India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) announced an official estimate of 1,411 tigers currently surviving in the wild in India; more than 50 percent down from the previous census estimate of 3,642 tigers in 2001-02.

My heart aches when I look into the face of this animal. I want to scream and stomp! Stop it! My voice is so tiny; and when I think about the hundreds of environmental and animal organization, the thousands of scientists and animal advocates, all our resources and decades of time: how does the Sumatran tiger find itself at extinction’s door?

We have yet to find a balance between human social and economic development and the natural world. I do not argue that we need to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. However, I wonder about the planning we make to achieve the reduction of poverty and improve peoples lives. The Sumatran tiger is one in a long list of animals at the brink of extinction in our quest for human social and economic development.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

What can I do in my tiny spec of the world to save this incredible creature? What can you do? If you have an answer, please share it here, so I can spread the news to as many little bloggers as possible! Of course, dollars to any of the organizations mentioned above will help. And I’ll continue to monitor this story.

Cattle Abuse in Slaughterhouse

“LOS ANGELES - An undercover video showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts has led to the largest beef recall in the United States and a scramble to find out if any of the meat is still destined for school children’s lunches.”

Watching ‘NBC’s Today’ show about animal abuse in a slaughterhouse; I’m horrified! I’m reminded of Dr. Michael W. Fox and his work at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) where I was privileged to work along side Dr. Fox in a quest to identify humane sustainable agriculture practices for livestock and poultry.

I’d never thought much about what livestock and poultry go through before it gets to the table. But after I became acquainted with Dr. Fox; the horrific nature of ‘Factory Farming’ became very clear. The dark side of this seldom viewed industry made my mission to find sustainable practices in livestock and poultry rearing imperative and to look to a more vegetarian diet.

The live images screaming out of the television on NBC’s Today’ show were horrific, however, I’ve seen much worse. This is not one isolated case; I’ve seen more proof than anyone would care to see. People should be made to see more of where our food comes from; how it’s produced and how the animals are treated.

Wendell Berry writes:

An agriculture can not survive long at the expense of the natural systems that support it and the provide it with models. A Culture cannot survive long at the expense of either its agricultural or its natural sources. To live at the expense of the source of life is obviously suicidal. Though we have no choice but to live at the expense of other life, it is necessary to recognize the limits and dangers involved: past a certain point in a unified system, “other life” is our own.

The definitive relationships in the universe are thus not competitive but interdependent. And from a human point of view they are analogical. We can build one system only within another. We can have agriculture only within nature, and culture only within agriculture. At certain points these systems have to conform with one another or destroy one another.

Dr. Fox writes:

Currently agriculture, along with all the natural wisdom and empathy that our farmer-ancestors and earlier hunter-gatherers acquired (and, with such wisdom and empathy, were deeply religious), is being lost–to high-tech agribusiness. From culture to technocracy: from sensibility to money, power, and control. The evolution of factory farming is a natural consequence of our culture’s materialistic and objectifying attitude toward nature. Consequently, humanity no longer acts as part of a unified field of being. By not acting so, we destroy this unity, violating the ecological laws of nature and the ethical and spiritual principles of our forebears. Factory farming is a second Industrial Revolution.

Thanks to the national attention brought to us by the media and film taken by the HSUS; the images are a mere glimpse of the ‘tip of the iceberg’! This is NOT a single isolated case! The trail of farm animals on the way to our table tops is paved with misery and cruelty. I urge you to stop and think about the food choices you make. Do you really need to eat that ‘Whopper’ or ‘Mac burger’ everyday. Do you give a thought to the suffering of the animals who went into it? Pain and suffering went into the meat on your plate! Do you give a darn?! Would you dare take a close look at where they live; what they are fed; the medications they receive on a daily basis?

Stay tuned, I’m going to take you to the dark side of livestock and poultry rearing. I’ll also take you to the other side and introduce you to ranchers who rear livestock and poultry with respect. I’ll give you answers on what you can do to make change to your diet.

Animals, Wilderness and Being Present

Wilderness

As much as I love the woods, I probably wouldn’t go there nearly as much if I had not had such incredible angel beasts in my life. The love and responsibility for these canines kept and keeps me on the trails and in the present!

In Touch With Nature

Having frequent contact to the woods has kept me in touch with nature. And nature keeps me in touch with a connection I would never make unless I visited the forest. Though I’m able to categorize and find names for all its parts; when I go there, I feel a wildness beating and somehow know that I’m connected to it. The connection makes me feel strong, alert and apart of the incredible invisible energy force that fills the universe. And watching The Way of Animals always puts me on a precious path!

Walk on the Wild Side

What could possibly be better than a walk in the woods? When I’m there, nothing is better. The sights and smells; lush greens and wild flowers, I inhale and the fragrance of the wilderness fills me with a wild embrace and I never want to leave the woods. The trail is shaded with lush wild green; scrub oak, spruce and pine. Wild flowers are abundant; Fairy Trumpets, Mouse Eared Chickweed, Evening Primrose, Fireweed, Shooting Stars, Globeflower and Paint brush. A creek weaves in and around the trail as the trail winds its way up the mountain.

I believe humans who do not make frequent journeys into the wilderness; touch, smell and listen to the forest, can not truly understand our connectedness to this beauty. We need to embrace the wild. When did asphalt trails, plastics, synthetics and technology become more desirable?

Leave the City Behind

Lets take a journey. Lets leave the city behind. Find some green. Get as close as we can, as frequently as possible to nature. Discover our connectedness with our animal friends and the wild beauty of the woods…come with me as I try and hold onto and keep close to the wild within.
Happy trails!