IDA Bay Area Events

IDA EVENTS
1. Leaflet with IDA to Help Save the Exotic Deer of Pt Reyes National Seashore
2. Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach
3. Fur Protest at Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
OTHER BAY AREA EVENTS TO HELP ANIMALS
1. Stop Napa Vineyard Owner from Killing Bears for Eating Grapes
2. Compassionate Cooks' February Cooking Class: "Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh"
3. Bunnies Need Loving Homes to Escape Euthanasia


IDA EVENTS

1. Leaflet with IDA to Help Save the Exotic Deer of Point Reyes National Seashore

The National Park Service (NPS) plans to exterminate all 1,150 of the beautiful fallow and spotted axis deer living at the Point Reyes National Seashore simply because they are non-native. All impacts claimed by the park in their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), however, are minor or speculative. As there is no crisis, the park has the luxury of time to implement a humane management program using wildlife contraception, which has been used to manage deer populations nationally and with elk living at the seashore.

A deadly hunt that will needlessly kill these unique animals who have resided in Point Reyes since 1948, when they were placed there by humans. Please help IDA remind the NPS of their ethical obligation to exhaust all non-lethal methods before resorting to violence.

What You Can Do:

1) Join IDA and concerned citizens as we distribute leaflets and get petition signatures to stop the slaughter of these beautiful deer.

What: Leafleting and petitioning to stop extermination of exotic deer
When: Saturday and Sunday, January 28th & 29th and February 4th & 5th, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Where: Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore has provided us with permits for these activities. If you can attend, please contact local organizer Trinka Marris at (415) 663-5420, or tmarris [at] snader.com . As there are restrictions on the number of activists allowed within the park and where we can leaflet, please contact Trinka to RSVP and get directions. Knowing who plans to attend will also enable us to confirm details or inform participants of any changes.

2) Please click here to urge NPS Regional Director Jon Jarvis to implement a humane, non-lethal method of controlling the exotic deer population at Point Reyes National Seashore. To have a greater impact, also use the information below to contact Mr. Jarvis by phone, fax, postal mail and personal email.

Jon Jarvis
Regional Director
Pacific West Region
National Park Service
One Jackson Center
1111 Jackson Street, Suite 700
Oakland, CA 95607
(510) 817-1304
jon_jarvis [at] nps.gov

Please also send a copy of your letter to your member of Congress. You can get contact information for your elected officials by clicking here and entering your zip code, or by calling the Government Information Hotline at (916) 322-9900 and giving the operator your address.

California residents only: also contact U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer:
1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94111
Tel: (415) 403-0100
Fax: (415) 956-6701

For further information on what you can do to help the deer, please visit http://www.saveptreyesdeer.org .


2. Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach

Join the San Francisco Wildlife Protection Project, an effort by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department to create a wildlife "sanctuary" along the Great Highway. By landscaping the area according to the Parks Department's specifications, volunteers create a habitat for native gophers and prevent them from being trapped and killed. This is an ongoing monthly effort, and usually takes place on the first Saturday of each month.

What: Gopher Gardening
When: Saturday, February 4th, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Where: Corner of the Great Highway and Wawona Street, San Francisco, at the small brick Recreation and Park maintenance building. Click http://tinyurl.com/4hnh2 for directions to this event.

For more information, please contact Karen Steele at (415) 388-9641, ext. 217 or karen [at] idausa.org .


3. Fur Protest at Chinese Consulate in San Francisco

Join IDA for a protest against fur at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco and help us bring attention to the atrocities committed against animals, including cats and dogs, whose lives are brutally taken to make clothes, fashion accessories and toys. IDA is hosting this demonstration in conjunction with protests being held at Chinese Consulates and Embassies by other animal rights organizations in New York, Canada, France and Israel. We are also actively trying to get more animal protection groups in other countries to participate in this global day of action against fur. By working together, we can focus the world's attention on the horrors that the international fur trade inflicts upon millions of innocent animals every day.

A recent investigation of Chinese fur farms documented dogs and cats stuffed into wire-mesh cages and exposed to the elements while being transported long distances across the countryside. Some of these animals still wore collars and tags, indicating that they were stolen from their guardians not long before. Upon arrival, they were thrown off the tops of trucks still in their cages to smash on the ground 20 feet below, further traumatizing the animals and breaking their bones. These cats and dogs all met the same cruel fate at the hands of farm workers that were videotaped laughing while skinning animals who were clearly still alive and conscious.

Many guardians have contacted IDA outraged at the Chinese fur industry and asking us what they can do to stop China from skinning dogs and cats for their fur. We are now urging all animal lovers to boycott all products sold in pet stores labeled "Made In China" until the Chinese Government initiates and enforces meaningful legal humane standards to regulate the raising and harvesting animals for fur. We are also asking pet store owners across the country to refuse to stock these items in the first place.

What You Can Do:

- According to the Chinese calendar, 2006 will be the Year of the Dog, so please join IDA at our upcoming protest as we fight to save canines and other animals from a horrible death.
What: Fur protest
When: Monday, February 13th, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Where: Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco, 1450 Laguna Street (at the corner of Geary & Laguna - click http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/eng/about/t50487.htm to see a map)

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Melissa Gonzalez at melissa [at] idausa.org or (415) 388-9641, ext. 228.

- Click http://ga0.org/campaign/ChineseAnimalLaws to sign IDA's petition urging the Chinese Government to pass National Animal Welfare Laws.

- Tell the pet store owners and managers in your community that you are boycotting products made in China as a protest against the Chinese cat and dog fur trade, and urge them to join the boycott by refusing to sell toys or any other products (like bowls, leashes, etc.) that are manufactured in China. If the owners or managers want proof that cats and dogs are being killed for fur in China, write to IDA at antifur [at] idausa.org, and we will send you some of our materials, including a video and brochures.

- Write a letter asking the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. to urge his government to enact an animal welfare law that will prohibit the cruel handling of dogs, cats and other animals at markets and during transportation.

His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 328-2574
Fax: (202) 328-2582

- Watch IDA's new PSA exposing the abominations that take place behind the scenes of the Chinese cat and dog fur industry by clicking http://www.idausa.org/psa_frame.html and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Be forewarned, however, that the PSA contains scenes that are extremely graphic and disturbing, and viewer discretion is advised.

- Visit IDA's website http://www.furkills.org for more information about the fur industry.


OTHER BAY AREA EVENTS TO HELP ANIMALS

1. Stop Napa Vineyard Owner from Killing Bears for Eating Grapes

Pope Valley, located in the foothills of Napa County, Calif., is home to both famous vineyards and various species of wildlife. Many vineyard operators practice good stewardship of the land, and respect the fact that they are merely guests living in territory that was occupied by wild animals well before human settlers arrived. While these original dwellers - including black bears, coyotes, deer, and wild pigs and turkeys - have been known to eat the vineyards' juicy grapes, most established growers in the wine business simply accept some crop loss as the price of doing business in the animals' natural habitat.

However, not all vineyard operators are sensitive to animals, and some use deadly violence to guard their profits. Whole herds of deer have been killed to protect grapevines, and vineyard owners successfully lobbied to pass a state law in 2005 to add wild turkeys to the list of animals that can be killed to protect their harvest. Most recently, black bears have become the target of at least one vineyard operator. Paul Maroon, who purchased a vineyard in Aetna Springs just six years ago, has already had six bears and three mountain lions killed by federal trappers whose salaries are paid by Napa County taxpayers. Flourishing permits issued by the California Department of Fish & Game, the Napa newcomer says the bears destroyed fences surrounding his property, ate his grapevines and threaten his staff's safety. The permits are still effective, and legalize the killing of any bears or mountain lions that damage Maroon's assets in the future.

Leaving fruit open to wild animals with inadequate protection is like "ringing the dinner bell for all the bears in the area" said Chris Malan, executive director of the Napa-based Institute for Conservation, Advocacy Research and Education. Instead of shooting the bears, Maroon could have simply used electric fencing to keep them out of his vineyard. The Canadian government has an electrified fence around their popular Lake Louise campground to keep out 1,500-pound Grizzly Bears. Kenya's 44 square mile National Park in Africa erected an electric fence to keep elephants from raiding farmers' cornfields and vegetable plots. The same strategy would certainly be effective in deterring 150-280 pound black bears and other animals from eating Maroon's prized grapes. Priced at $5,000 to $7,000 a ton, Cabernet grapes like the ones grown at Aetna Springs Vineyards are among the most profitable crops in the world. Maroon is a multi-millionaire, and can undoubtedly afford to spend two to three thousand dollars on electric fencing to protect his investment, leaving him no excuse for killing animals who are more entitled to live in Aetna Springs than he is.

What You Can Do:

- The California Department of Fish & Game and the California Resources Agency claim that they want to preserve wildlife, and the black bear population in particular (you can read Fish & Game's official policy at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/hunting/bear/statewidepolicy.html ). Yet the state agencies automatically side with business owners when animals encroach on private property. Please contact officials at these state agencies and politely ask them to revoke Maroon's permit to kill black bears and mountain lions. Be sure to remind them that when top predators are eradicated, prey species become overpopulated and eat even more vegetation, upsetting the delicate balance between flora and fauna within the entire ecosystem. Also urge them to change Statewide Black Bear Policy 2071 to require the construction of electric fences around vineyards before permits are issued to kill Category III bears (i.e., those that have caused damage to property).

California Department of Fish & Game
Attn: Doug Updike, Black Bear Program Director
1812 9th Street
Sacramento, 95814
E-mail: director [at] dfg.ca.gov

California Resources Agency
Attn: Mike Crisman, Secretary for Resources
1416 9th Street, Suite 1311
Sacramento, 95814

- Click http://ga0.org/campaign/SaveBlackBears to ask your State Representative to revise the depredation permit policy so that vineyards are required to build electric fences before a permit is issued to kill animals.

- The Redwood chapter of the Sierra Club's Bear Committee is lobbying Sacramento lawmakers to get the California Department of Fish & Game to change their mandate from lethal hunting to protection of wildlife and habitat. To find out how you can get involved, call Chris Malan at (707) 255-7434 or John Stephens at (707) 251-0106.


2. Compassionate Cooks' February Cooking Class: "Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh"

Join Compassionate Cooks for their next vegan cooking class, "Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh," and learn to make five delicious, nutritious dishes, including Tempeh Reuben Sandwich, Tofu Filet with Spicy Cornmeal Crust, Better-Than-Chicken Salad, Tofu & Vegetable Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce, and Chocolate Cheesecake. Using local, in-season, mostly organic ingredients, Compassionate Cooks features easy-to-prepare recipes and debunks myths about plant-based diets. Join the class in February for yummy food samples, a soy milk taste test and a lot of fun!

What: Compassionate Cooks' February Cooking Class: "Demystifying Tofu and Tempeh"
When: Saturday, February 25th, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: The First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th Street (at Castro), Oakland (click http://www.uuoakland.org/directions.htm for directions)

Be sure to register in advance by Thursday, February 23rd either online at http://www.compassionatecooks.com/reg.htm or by calling (510) 531-COOK. You can also mail a check to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, P.O. Box 18512, Oakland, CA 94619. The $45 cost of the class includes instruction, food samples, copies of recipes and much more.


3. Bunnies Need Loving Homes to Escape Euthanasia

With unwanted bunnies sure to be dropped off in the weeks following Easter, Bay Area shelters are already overrun with many more rabbits than they have the resources to care for. If homes are not found for the animals soon, shelter operators say they will have to euthanize them to make room for incoming hares.

A number of factors have contributed to the recent surge in the homeless bunny population. For one, rabbits breed quickly, and often have sizable litters with several babies. In addition, many people who do purchase or adopt bunnies (often around the Easter holiday on a whim) don't realize the level of commitment that is required for their care, and pet stores that sell bunnies don't always prepare potential guardians for the responsibility. When they are no longer wanted, the animals are often surrendered to shelters that don't always have the resources to provide for their long-term upkeep. Demand for bunnies as animal companions isn't as high as it is for cats or dogs, so they often languish in cages for weeks while waiting to be adopted, only to be euthanized to make room for new animals. Sometimes people release them into the woods, but domestic rabbits are not able to survive in the wild, where they die of exposure or are eaten by predators.

What You Can Do:

If you are looking for an affectionate and furry friend to share your home with, please consider adopting one of the many bunnies who are waiting in Bay Area shelters for their forever homes. Rabbits generally get along well with most other species (such as cats and dogs), and can be trained to use a litterbox so you can let them roam around the house (after rabbit-proofing). For more information about bunny care and behavior, visit the House Rabbit Society website at http://www.rabbit.org .

To adopt a rabbit, contact or visit these Bay Area animal shelters:

- The San Francisco/Marin House Rabbit Society: http://www.saveabunny.com
- San Francisco Animal Care & Control: http://www.sfgov.org/site/acc_index.asp
- Oakland Animal Services: http://www.oaklandanimalservices.org
- The Marin Humane Society: http://www.marin-humane.org