Day: January 8, 2006

Same Old Gary Yourofsky

Gary Yourofsky’s relationship with People for the Ethical Treatment seems to have ended, but Yourofsky is still traveling around the country giving speeches in favor of vegetarianism with his Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow organization. And he’s still actively supporting violence.

According to CUNY student newspaper, The Word, Yourofsky gave presentations to a couple journalism classes there.

Yourofsky, who wore a gray Animal Liberation Front T-shirt, said he wanted to eradicate speciesism . . .

As part of his speech, Yourofsky cites famous and presumably admirable people who are vegetarians. But his list contains at least one oddity (emphasis added),

Yourofsky mentioned famous people like Martin Luther King Jr. III, Minister Louis Farrakhan, and author Alice Walker. All, he said, adopted vegan lifestyles because they view the killing of animals as a form of oppression.

Louis Farrakhan? The man who called Jews, Koreans and Vietnamese immigrants in New York “bloodsuckers”?

Well, at least Yourofsky has found someone as noxious as he to share his vegetarianism with.

Sources:

Veganistic Deja Vu. William Frances, The Word, January 5, 2006.

Million Man March: Its goal more widely accepted than its leader. CNN, October 17, 1995.

Bloomington, Indiana, Adopts Pet “Guardian” Language

According to a report by the Associated Press, Bloomington, Indiana became the 14th municipality to adopt language referring to pet owners as guardians. The city’s codes relating to pets refer to the animals’ “owner/guardian.”

The change was pushed by animal rights activist Karen Smith and In Defense of Animals. Smith likened the change to the ending of offensive racist language,

We’ve changed the ways we talk about racial references; (this is) another linguistic change along those lines.

In a press release, In Defense of Animals president Elliot Katz said,

I am delighted that the citizens and city council of Bloomington have recognized the value of the term guardian. Because so much animal abuse and neglect stems from viewing animals as disposable property, this is an important step in changing people’s consciousness and respect towards the animals with whom we share our lives.

Source:

Bloomington, Indiana Recognizes Animal “Guardians”. Press release, In Defense of Animals, December 28, 2005.

PETA Award to Person Who Perfected Mouse Killing Technology

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently named Dr. Nigel Binns as its Person of the Year. Binns’ major accomplishment? He developed an extremely effective way to kill mice.

According to a PETA press release,

Unlike cruel poisons, snaps, and glue traps — which can cause mice and rats to suffer in agony for hours or days — the RADAR trap painlessly gasses trapped rodents with carbon dioxide.

Binns is chief biologist for UK pest control company Rentokil. According to a New Scientist story on his trap,

Nigel Binns, Rentokil’s chief biologist, wanted a trap that would kill only target animals, and do so humanely. It would then alert a pest controller that the trap needed attention. Inside its white plastic enclosure, a pressure pad senses the weight of an animal’s paw, and closes the door if the footfall matches the weight of a rat or mouse. Squirrels or small rabbits are spared, he says. Gas released from a carbon dioxide capsule then kills the vermin humanely.

Binns tells New Scientist that computer data centers might be one big customer of his trap, since its constant monitoring and instant notification would help reduce rat problems that some data centers have experienced.

Sources:

Builder of more humane mousetrap recognized as PETA’s ‘Person of the Year’. Press Release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 2005.

UR r@ is in the trap. New Scientist, November 17, 2005.