Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania

The Humane Society of the United States is hosting free "Humane 101" meetings this month, where participants will learn how to make a tremendous difference for animals in Pennsylvania.

One of them will be held in Pittsburgh, on February 23rd, at 12:30 pm (one hour duration). Location: Wightman Community Center, Squirrel Hill (see RSVP link below for details).

These presentations will energize individuals who share a common concern for the wellbeing of animals to actively participate in changing, supporting, or opposing policies in both the private and public sectors that directly affect the care and treatment of animals. The animal community is large, and yet effecting positive change for animals is a difficult process when pursued by a divided animal community. These meetings will equip participants with the skills necessary not only to effect change for animals as an individual but will unite animal advocates with similar goals and concerns.

We will discuss basic techniques to encourage policy changes for citizen activists and provide information regarding some of the priority animal issues in Pennsylvania. Please take time to attend at least one of these meetings to support the ongoing efforts to protect the animals of Pennsylvania and to meet and network with other advocates for animals.

As an added bonus, the seminars will equip you with the skills necessary to campaign for animals at the local level. Topics covered will include composing effective materials for local decision-makers and media outlets, organizing your friends and acquaintances behind one goal, and overall campaign strategic planning.

Meetings will feature special guest speaker former State Senator Roy Afflerbach.

These events are free of charge, but an R.S.V.P. is requested to attend.

We hope you can join us at one of these events, and help grow our "Army of the Kind" in Pennsylvania!

RSVP at:
https://community.hsus.org/humane/events/PA_h101_pittsburgh_022308/details.tcl

For too long, the City of Pittsburgh has focused its money and energies on old-fashioned ideas and practices about animal management which increase the needless killing of animals in our community. Voices for Animals would like to see the city revise its ideas and customs on animal management and to create its own shelter with programs that support the development of a no-kill community. We need community support to push this proposal through, so we are asking for city residents to sign a petition which asks for the above demands. To help VFA by petitioning your community, download a form here.

Along with mailing to VFA's PO Box, you can drop off your completed petitions at the following locations:

North Side

Beleza Coffee House
1501 Buena Vista Street

South Side

E House Co.
1511 East Carson Street

East End

East End Food Co-Op (Customer Service Desk)
7516 Meade Street

On Wednesday, October 10, 2007, USDA employees entered River Front Park, on the South Side and -- with the help of a boat and an unidentified substance used to drug the birds -- caught and crated a large number of Canada geese and trucked them to a slaughterhouse. TO READ MORE CLICK ON THE TEXT.

VFA was alerted early last week by a South Side resident who heard the news from a distressed eye witness. A USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) official confirmed shortly after that the organization did indeed enter the park on October 10 and took 19 geese from the flock there(eyewitnesses claim a lot more were taken, representing the majority of the flock present before the arrival of the truck). The USDA's explanation: they were contracted by neither the city nor the county but for a "private entity." Since their "non-lethal" methods were not working at the client's site (they claim because the geese were being fed at River Front Park) they crossed the river, entered the park and -- without any prior negotiations with the City on how to non-lethally resolve the alleged problem at the park -- captured the geese and took them to slaughter in view of horrified local residents. In other words: The USDA entered public land, on behalf of a private entity which was paying the USDA for the service, and proceeded to take and kill the geese from that site. No effort was made to resolve the issue humanely at the River Front site first -- not even the simple act of putting up "No Feeding" signs (there are none there at present). What is not yet known is this: Who contracted with the USDA to have these geese "managed" and ultimately killed? The USDA claims that information is protected. However, VFA would like to know because it wishes to inform that company or organization that many Pittsburgh residents don't appreciate having wildlife killed on city land, especially on behalf of private companies that insist on "enhancing" their sites through vast lawn areas that act as magnets to geese.

According to a tip-off received by VFA, the contract possibly implicates the Technology Drive site, which runs parallel to Second Avenue on the opposite side of the river from River Front Park. Technology Drive is surrounded by large mown grass spaces, and hosts the offices of many prestigious high-tech companies and institutions such as CMU, Sunoco, the Pittsburgh Technology Center, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, etc. Our calls to the office of the site developer last week brought no clear answers. We have filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request regarding this and any other Canada goose operations within city limits, however we cannot expect a response for several weeks. So, we are taking the question to the public. During rush hour Thursday afternoon, VFA will stage a protest along the sidewalk by the junction of the Hot Metal Bridge and Second Avenue. We will be asking the public to help us find out: Who Had the South Side Geese Killed?

USDA officials informed us that they are currently working on several integrated goose management plans within the City. We know what their plans meant for 272 North Park geese in July, and for the unfortunate birds taken on the South Side two weeks ago. If you are as outraged as we are at the killing of these birds on City land, and appalled that the close bonds between yet another flock have been destroyed through a pointless, inhumane act, then please join us if you can. Let's show the USDA that there is strong public opposition in Pittsburgh to these senseless kills, and let's demonstrate to all companies that contract with the USDA to carry out geese round-ups on their behalf, or that become associated with these actions simply through being on the same site, that killing wildlife is not just inhumane and ineffective, it's bad for your public image.

Apparently, officials in South Western PA still have a lot of basic lessons to learn about living humanely with wildlife... Voices For Animals was informed today of plans by the Borough of McDonald, PA, to destroy “ this coming weekend“ three beaver dams built on Robinson Run Creek. If the beaver colony does not relocate as a result, they will be trapped, killed and skinned for their fur, between now and the beginning of next year. The colony probably comprises a typical beaver family: an adult pair plus kits from the two previous litters, in other words, between 6 and 8 animals. FOR MORE INFO CLICK ON THE PARAGRAPH.

More information can be found in the following article:
http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/08_22_McDonald_Beaver_Dam

What you should know
Beavers are highly intelligent, clever, and gentle animals who form close and cooperative family relationships. Furthermore, beavers play an important role in the ecosystem, and are considered a "keystone species," since, as a general rule, the ponds and wetlands formed by beaver dams increase biodiversity and improve overall environmental quality. Having been pushed by fur trappers to the point of near-extinction by the mid-1800s, their numbers gradually increased and stabilized over the 20th century. Beavers mate for life and kits stay with their parents for at least the first year of their lives. After kits are weaned, parents and older offspring who remain with the family share parental duties.

Despite the positive role played by beavers in the ecosystem, as urban development continues to spread into rural areas, occasional human-beaver conflicts become inevitable, and the situation in McDonald is an example of this. Since nature abhors a vacuum however, killing the beaver colony at Robinson Run Creek will merely take the lives of these animals and open up a new space for another colony. In other words, the problem will very likely arise again in the future, entailing a continuous cycle of destruction and killing, with no definitive resolution of the flooding issue.

However, potential flooding risks caused by beaver dams can be managed humanely and very efficiently through the use of several techniques, such as "Beaver Bafflers" and "Beaver Deceivers," depending on the nature of the problem. Good background information on the subject can be found at:
http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/urban_wildlife_our_wild_neighbors/solving_problems_with_your_wild_neighbors/solving_problems_with_beavers.html

What you should do
Please call, fax or write to Mr. Tim Thomassy, President of McDonald Borough Council and Mr. James Frazier, Mayor of McDonald Borough (details below), if at all possible on Friday, August 24, before the planned dam destruction begins, or as soon as possible. Tell him that destroying the dams and then killing the beavers is an inhumane, ineffective and utterly pointless act, given the fact that alternative, humane and non-lethal solutions exist, are commonly used elsewhere, and that they avoid the problem of a "cycle" of human-beaver conflicts. Request politely yet firmly that they abandon plans to destroy the dams this weekend as well as any plans to kill the beavers, that they opt for the humane alternatives being successfully used elsewhere, and that they commit permanently to adopting a no-harm approach to the beavers living on Robinson Run Creek.

Mr. Tim Thomassy
Borough of McDonald
151 School Street
McDonald, PA 15057
Tel: (724) 926 8711
Fax: (724) 926 2750

Mr. James Frazier, Mayor
Borough of McDonald
(address and phone are the same as above)

Also, please write a letter to the Observer-Reporter in response to the article concerning the beavers, letting the public know that plans to destroy the dams and kill the beavers are unethical, unacceptable, and ineffective, and that humane ways of resolving this issue exist:

Editorial Page Editor
Observer-Reporter
122 South Main Street
Washington, PA 15301
Fax: (724) 225-2077
http://www.formassembly.com/forms/37797 (link to electronic form)

Please:

1) Call, email and fax your council member Friday and Monday

2) If possible, attend Tuesday’s Council meeting

This summer, City and County officials have had us all working overtime. From feral cats to the North Park geese, animals have been under administrative attack through a variety of measures and proposed ordinances.

Unfortunately, it isn’t over yet. We need your help again. This time City wildlife are under threat of being sent to be killed at an animal facility with a bad reputation, or possibly of death through Carbon Monoxide poisoning at the hands of the City.

Scarcely had his cat licensing bill been laid to rest than Councilman Jim Motznik attempted at a council meeting this week to transfer the task of killing wildlife trapped in the City of Pittsburgh to Triangle Pet, an ill-reputed company based in McKees Rocks. The Council vote on Wednesday was tied, with one abstention. They will vote again on the issue next Tuesday, August 7.

The previous week, a key Animal Control official suggested that the answer to the City’s problems in disposing of wildlife could lie in gassing them with Carbon Monoxide, a method of killing that is inhumane and unacceptable.

They really don’t get it…

More details of the Triangle Pet situation can be found below. What we are asking you to do is to call, email or fax your council representative (list below) and demand that the City of Pittsburgh change its antiquated wildlife policy, which encourages and enables the public to capture and kill wildlife, even if apparently healthy, for conflicts that could be easily resolved with education. A representative for the Animal Rescue League (ARL) told a VFA coordinator that before the ARL stopped doing the City’s dirty work, the City brought them over 1,000 woodchucks and raccoons every year to kill – many of them babies. This situation is inhumane, outdated and inefficient. Please ask your council person: CLICK PARAGRAPH FOR MORE INFO

Â· To respond to the offer made by Laura Simon, Urban Wildlife Field Director for the Humane Society of the United States. Ms. Simon sent all council members a complete information pack a month ago and offered to meet with them to review wildlife policy in the City and work on finding a more efficient solution. To date, not one council member has responded to that offer. Demand that they do so and that they start paying serious attention to the non-lethal alternatives being used elsewhere.

Â· To vote “no” to contracting with Triangle Pet at next Tuesday’s Council meeting. It is unnecessary and the public doesn’t want it.

Â· Not to even consider resorting to Carbon Monoxide poisoning as a means of killing Pittsburgh wildlife.

Council needs to stop focusing on “who does the killing and where” and start considering a new and progressive approach to handling wildlife issues.

Our city kills thousands of healthy wild animals a year.

Trap-and-Kill and Trap-and-Relocate methods are cruel and ineffective.

Help us stop them!

The Triangle Pet situation

A “yes” vote for Triangle Pet would be bad news for City wildlife and here’s why:

Â· As an animal control facility, Triangle Pet has developed a bad reputation. One Animal Control representative testified to Council in June about the neglectful treatment of wildlife he and other ACOs had witnessed at Triangle Pet earlier this year. See the related article in the Post Gazette at:
www.post-gazette.com/pg/07165/794037-53.stm

Â· Triangle Pet has been insisting on a 5-year contract until now. If the City is locked into a long-term contract with Triangle Pet, this will dramatically impact our efforts to introduce a more humane wildlife policy in the City.

Â· There is no need to resort to the services of Triangle Pet at this time. Pittsburgh Animal Control Officers are currently completing euthanasia training with the Animal Rescue League. In the meantime, the ARL has graciously agreed to handle wildlife “euthanasia” on behalf of the City until ACOs are able to carry out the task themselves.

Council meeting Tuesday August 7th

If you can attend the Council Meeting on Tuesday and speak up for Pittsburgh wildlife, please do so:

Tuesday August 7th, at 10 a.m. (sign in by 9:50 a.m. if you wish to speak).
5th floor, City County Building, 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Please Contact Your Council Members:

District 1: Darlene Harris
Email: Darlene.Harris@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-2135
Fax: 412-255-2129

District 2: Daniel Deasy
Email: Daniel.Deasy@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-8963
Fax: 412-255-2821

District 3: Jeffrey Koch
Email: Jeffrey.Koch@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-2130
Fax: 412-255-8950

District 4: Jim Motznik
Email: James.Motznik@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-2131
Fax: 412-255-2821

District 5: Doug Shields (President of Council)
Email: Doug.Shields@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Phone: 412-255-8965
Fax: 412-255-2821

District 6: Tonya Payne
Email: Tonya.Payne@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-2134
Fax: 412-255-2821

District 7: Len Bodack
Email: Len.Bodack@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
412-255-2140
412-255-2821

District 8: Bill Peduto
Email: Bill.Peduto@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-2133
Fax: 412-255-2821

District 9: Twanda Carlisle
Email: Twanda.Carlisle@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Telephone: 412-255-2137
Fax: 412-255-8658

For more information:

voicesforanimals@gmail.com
1-877-321-4VFA

Please send us any responses you receive!

After firm public commitments to Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania's coordinators and the media, Allegheny County officials broke their promises to develop a long-term humane, non-lethal management plan to peacefully handle human/goose conflict in favor of killing 272 Canada geese. It is important to point out that Allegheny County NEVER correctly engaged in non-lethal methods or developed the comprehensive plan they promised. CLICK PARAGRAPH FOR MORE INFO

This past weekend, at least 272 adult Canada geese and their young were rounded up, vocalizing and resisting as best they could, shoved into crates and trucked to a slaughterhouse to be brutally killed. The rounding up and killing began Thursday and ended Saturday.

No law protects birds in the slaughtering process, thus these animals likely experienced an immense amount of terror and pain prior to their untimely deaths. It is of the utmost importance to write, call, email and fax (often!) Dan Onorato and Andrew Baechle and tell them you are outraged that they not only lied to their constituents, but engaged in the mistreatment, abuse, and inhumane killing of Canada geese. Urge them to adopt an honest commitment to a permanent, long-term policy of handling issues related to human conflict with wildlife humanely and non-lethally, and especially to never again kill Canada geese as population control:

Dan Onorato, Allegheny County Chief Executive
Courthouse
436 Grant Street, Room 101
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 350-6500 Fax: (412) 350-6512

executive@county.allegheny.pa.us

Andrew G. Baechle, Allegheny County Parks Director
County Office Building
542 Forbes Avenue, Room 211
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 350-7275 Fax: (412) 350-2682

webmaster.parks@county.allegheny.pa.us

Also, it is important to mention that Andy Sheehan (KDKA News reporter) was responsible for a very biased, one-sided report on the Canada geese at North Park (http://kdka.com/pets/local_story_191221423.html) which lead to their demise. Write and call the KDKA news editor and tell them that you are absolutely appalled that Mr. Sheehan so clearly had an agenda that ended with the suffering and death of intelligent, beautiful wild animals. Tell them that biased journalism with refusals to look critically at both sides of the issue is unprofessional and unfair, especially when it is responsible for creating public hysteria and inhumane actions.

KDKA-TV
One Gateway Center
Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: (412) 575-2245
Fax: (412) 575-2871
newsdesk@kdka.com

Please email any responses you get to VoicesForAnimals@gmail.com

At the June 12, 2007 West Elizabeth Borough Council meeting, a motion was passed to allow a small group of volunteers from the West Elizabeth area to trap, "rescue", and remove the feral and free-roaming cats living in the area, instead of allowing Ferree Kennels to collect and kill the cats as was previously planned. None of the rescue groups present were ever allowed to give a presentation on Trap-Neuter-Return as we had requested.CLICK PARAGRAPH FOR MORE INFO

While Voices For Animals is glad that the rescued cats are no longer in any immediate danger of being killed, and we appreciate the personal efforts being made by individual rescuers in trying to deal with this situation, we are concerned about this decision to trap and remove the cats without returning them, as quite simply, it will not work in reducing the number of feral cats in the area. Cat colonies tend to maintain a balance of numbers. When cats are entirely removed from the area, this simply creates a vacant space for new cats to fill. This has been proven to occur almost inevitably in such situations, creating a constant cycle of trapping, removal, and new arrivals. Therefore, this is an inadequate and ultimately ineffective method of addressing the overpopulation problem. Voices For Animals fears that when this program fails at reducing the number of cats in West Elizabeth, the borough will return to the equally ineffective and extremely inhumane capture and kill method, as in fact stated by one councilperson at the meeting.

The only proven solution to effectively reduce feral and free-roaming cat populations are Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, combined with a broadly implemented spay/neuter program. Voices For Animals can't stress enough the importance of implementing this method in West Elizabeth as well as other communities where feral cat populations reside. Voices For Animals has repeatedly communicated this message to West Elizabeth Council and is strongly urging them to meet with VFA representatives and TNR experts on how to effectively implement and maintain a TNR program in the area.

West Elizabeth borough has hired Ken Ferree of Ferree Kennels to capture stray, feral and free-roaming cats and kill them at $10 per animal. Ferree Kennels is using box traps to capture cats and kittens and holding them until 4 PM the same day and - if not picked up - they are killed by being gassed to death using carbon monoxide from an engine's exhaust. West Elizabeth Code Enforcement Officer Bill Wolfgang was quoted in the Mckeesport Daily News as saying "We have an overpopulation of them. It seems like it's getting worse." He told the reporter from the McKeesport Daily News that abandoned felines roam free through neighborhoods, urinate in yards, and reproduce. CLICK ON THE TEXT TO READ FURTHER

Voices for Animals is calling upon West Elizabeth to immediately cancel their contract with Ferree Kennels and end their trap-and-kill policy for cats and kittens who are found outdoors in favor of humane, non-lethal alternatives. West Elizabeth citizens can learn to coexist peacefully with cats - and outdoor cat populations can be dealt with humanely and non-lethally through a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program, which are far more effective and far more humane. You can learn more about feral cat TNR programs at: www.alleycat.org

You can read Voices For Animals of Western Pennsylvania's letter to West Elizabeth officials here.

Please write, phone and fax West Elizabeth's key decision makers and politely request they immediately end the unnecessary killing of outdoor cats in West Elizabeth borough.

Louise Biddle, President of Council
The Council of West Elizabeth Borough
Ralph Harrington, Mayor
Municipal Building
P.O. Box 0716
West Elizabeth, PA 15088

Telephone: 412-384-8200 (note: voicemail is automated and doesn't state West Elizabeth Council, but they do pick up voicemails so please leave a message)

Fax: 412-384-0538

Upon being alerted from several reliable sources that Allegheny County Parks Department was considering killing the geese in North Park this summer, Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania moved quickly to act to save the geese. After contacting the Allegheny County Parks Department and discussing the issue with them, it was confirmed that rounding up the geese and killing them was an option that they were considering.

Voices for Animals volunteers visited North Park on multiple occasions, alerting the park's visitors about the issue, and also alerted the public and Voices for Animals's hundreds of members, encouraging them to contact the county and voice their opposition to killing the geese. Once the community was alerted, Allegheny County Parks Department announced to the public that they will not be killing the geese this year and will keep using non-lethal methods.

VFA representatives met with Allegheny County Parks Department and USDA representatives the morning of Thursday, May 24th to discuss the issue and the use of non-lethal alternatives for removing geese populations from the park. Presented to Allegheny County Parks Director, Andrew Baechle, along with County Council, was an informational packet presenting Voices for Animals's concerns and explaining our position on the issue. Among the concerns from Voices for Animals were ethical objections to the possible unnecessary interference with wildlife, stated in hopes of promoting a peaceful co-existence with the nature public parks are intended to conserve.

Mr. Baechle asked Voices for Animals to be partners in coming up with a solution using non-lethal methods. Although VFA regrets anyone considering these geese a problem and has ethical objections to some of the approaches being considered, we appreciate the effort being made by Allegheny County to pursue non-lethal methods, and urge Allegheny County to make a strong commitment to never engage in lethal forms of geese control at any of their parks at any time in the future.

Visit these links for VFA's media coverage on this issue:

Animal Activists Try to Save North Park Geese

Park officials 'goosed' into tackling fowl problem

NRA Aggressively Lobbying Against Pigeon Shoot Bill-Everyone Contact Your State Rep ASAP!

H.B. 73, the bill that would ban live pigeon shoots in the state of Pennsylvania, is under attack by the NRA! The National Rifle Association has come out in opposition to the bill and they are targeting state representatives who support the bill. Already co-sponsors of the bill have dropped down due to the NRA's pressure. CLICK ON THE TEXT FOR MORE INFO.

It is imperative that you call your State Representative as soon as possible and tell them to support H.B. 73 to ban live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania.

Click here to get your Representative's contact information. It will ask you to put in your zip code. Once you do, you will see a tab for federal and a tab for state. Click on STATE and then enter your address to get your State Representative's contact information.

Here's a sample phone script:

"Hello, I am calling from [your town] to urge Representative [your Rep] to support H.B. 73 which bans pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. It is time to finally put an end to this inhumane practice in our state. Thank you."

Pigeon shoots are an atrocious form of cruelty and are an embarrassment to Pennsylvania, one of the few states left in the US where they actually remain legal. Let's not let the NRA kill this important bill and allow this sadistic practice to continue. Please contact your Representative and spread the word to everyone you know in PA to contact their Representative.

Again, click here to get your Representative's number.

WATCH THIS VIDEO (by clicking here) of the infamous (and now thankfully defunct) Hegins, PA Labor Day Pigeon Shoot to get an idea of the horror of pigeon shoots and the cruelty that will continue if the NRA gets their way. Please don't let this cruelty continue any longer and contact your Representative.

Hot on the heels of the Giant Eagle victory, Voices for Animals confirmed that the downtown Cultural District restaurant Nine on Nine has pulled foie gras from their menu and will no longer sell it! Nine on Nine's decision came after Voices for Animals contacted the restaurant and sent them investigative footage of foie gras farms and information regarding it's production, requesting that they remove the product from their menu. Nine on Nine's management informed VFA via phone call that they are no longer selling foie gras.

This is the second victory for the foie gras campaign in less than 2 weeks! On Friday, February 23rd, Giant Eagle decided to stop selling foie gras in its Market District stores in Shadyside and Bethel Park, as well as agree not to sell it in any of its 230 stores, ending Voices for Animals's 4-month long campaign against the grocery chain in success.

WE WON!!!! Not a moment too soon before our first scheduled public protest against Giant Eagle, Voices for Animals received notification yesterday evening that Giant Eagle has agreed to stop selling foie gras! Foie gras will no longer be sold at Market District or at any of Giant EagleÃ‚Â’s 230 stores! This is a major victory!

Voices for AnimalsÂ’ short-lived campaign against Giant Eagle started in the fall of last year, shortly after discovering foie gras being sold at the then new Market District stores. Voices for Animals sent letters and foie gras farm investigation DVD footage to Giant EagleÂ’s corporate and local store management, posted action alerts encouraging people to contact Giant Eagle, and asked other local and national organizations to write to Giant Eagle and send out an action alert to their members. In fact, after VFA alerted PETA about the sale of foie gras at Giant Eagle, they sent an alert out to their members which resulted in nearly 250,000 emails being sent to Giant Eagle! After receiving no response from Giant Eagle to our calls and letters, VFA planned to launch a public campaign and first public protest against them, until receiving word of their decision yesterday. Voices for Animals wants to thank everyone who took the time and effort over the last several months to write letters to Giant Eagle, make phone calls, register complaints to customer service, sent emails, and/or spoke to Giant EagleÂ’s managers in person. Your action and support has helped to make this important victory possible! Congratulations everyone!

Voices for Animals have released the first hard copy version of their newsletter, The Voice. To view a copy online click here. This issue includes an article on the Victoria's Secret Victory, a circus wrap up, a Veg Pittsburgh preview, a foie gras free Pittsburgh update, and delicious vegan recipes!

Pennsylvania is one of the last states in the country where pigeon shoots are actually still legal. Just about every other state has recognized that pigeon shoots, in which hundreds to thousands of live, tame birds are used for target practice, constitute inherent animal cruelty and have banned them accordingly. Now we have the opportunity to finally end this cruel practice in Pennsylvania as well once and for all. CLICK ANYWHERE ON THE PARAGRAPH TO READ MORE BELOW

Representative Frank Andrews Shimkus just introduced H.B. 73, which would ban pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. Thanks to the actions of concerned Pennsylvania residents, the Pennsylvania House came close to banning pigeon shoots at the end of the 2006 session. With much of the groundwork laid, we are hoping for quick passage of this important bill. Please make a brief polite phone call to your state representative today and urge him or her to support H.B. 73 to end pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania.

To get your representative's phone number, go to this site

If you are not sure what to say, here's a sample phone script:
"Hello, I am calling from [your town] to urge you to cosponsor H.B. 73, if you haven't already done so. Please support this bill, as it would ban pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. It is time to finally put an end to this inhumane practice. Thank you."

Some more facts about pigeon shoots: Tame pigeons, who are usually stockpiled for months prior to the shoot, are released from traps, often disoriented from malnourishment, dehydration and fear, and are fired at immediately by waiting hunters, shooting rounds of shells at them. More than 70 percent of the pigeons are not killed outright, but fall to the ground wounded. Often participants -- including children -- kill the wounded birds by snapping off their heads, slamming them into the ground, and throwing them in trash cans. At the infamous Hegins County pigeon shoot (which thankfully finally ended in 1999), hunters even bit the heads off of live birds. This is malicious, wanton cruelty of the worst kind and it should without a doubt be illegal. Recently (just last month), the PGH Post-Gazette printed a nice article about the need to stop pigeon shoots in PA. You can read it here

Please take action and call your representative and tell him or her to co-sponsor H.B. 73, and ask your friends and family to do the same. Once again, the phone number for your representative can be found at this site

Let's make sure not one more pigeon dies in pain at a pigeon shoot in our state ever again!

We won! After 2 years of working on a local level on the VictoriaÂ’s Dirty Secret campaign, Voices for Animals is happy to announce that last week, Wednesday December 6, VictoriaÂ’s Secret announced that it would be adopting more environmentally sustainable paper standards for its lingerie catalog! As most people familiar with the campaign know, VictoriaÂ’s Secret was sending out over 395 million catalogs a year-over a million a day-on paper made of little to no recycled content that was logged from endangered forests such as the Boreal Forest in Canada. Determined to join the fight against deforestation, the destruction of millions of animalsÂ’ homes, and the natural ecosystems the animals depend on, Voices for Animals united with the national environmental organization Forest Ethics in their campaign to reform VictoriaÂ’s SecretÂ’s destructive catalog industry practices. After many protests, leafletings, and public actions such as a Funeral March through Shadyside and a VictoriaÂ’s Secret Chainsaw Massacre Protest, all our hard work has finally paid off!

The new paper standards that VictoriaÂ’s Secret announced they are adopting go beyond the paper standards that Forest Ethics has asked that it set for its lingerie catalog. Those commitments follow:

Ã‚Â· Limited Brands has partnered with its paper supplier to eliminate all pulp supplied from the Boreal Forest (AlbertaÂ’s Rocky Mountain Foothills) and British Columbia (Inland Temperate Rainforest)
Ã‚Â· Shifting its catalogs to either 10% PCW or at least 10% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) content during 2007
Ã‚Â· A preference for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, the only credible certification for sustainable logging. Limited Brands has partnered with its supplier to shift four of its mills to FSC
Ã‚Â· Overall catalog paper reduction
Ã‚Â· A commitment to continual improvement on environmental attributes of catalog paper and paper use. Progress will be audited by an independent third party and made public
Ã‚Â· A commitment to phase out of Endangered Forests
Ã‚Â· One million dollars committed to research and advocacy to protect Endangered Forests and ensure leadership in the catalog industry
While these commitments may seem like minor remedies, given the rate of destruction in endangered forests, the amount of FSC certified and post consumer waste paper available to the market is still limited due to a lack of demand. Victoria's Secret's decision has caused William Sonoma and Dell, two other leaders in the catalog industry, to adopt similar standards for their catalogs and drying up the available PCW and FSC-certified paper available. In the long run though their new policies will expand the amount of PCW and FSC-certified paper produced in existing mills and cause more mills to shift to these more sustainable methods. Dell, William Sonoma, and Victoria's Secret have all planned to increase the amount of these papers in their catalogs as their availability increases over the years.

As encouraging as this win is, it is only the first step in an ongoing campaign to shift the catalog industry's relationship to the world's forests. In the coming months Forest Ethics, Voices for Animals, and the other grassroots organizations who work in coalition on this campaign will be determining who will be the next target in the campaign. Our greatest hopes are that the next segment of this campaign will cause even more businesses to voluntarily change their catalog policies and make it an industry norm to take the forests, ecosystems, and human and non-human animals that depend on them into account when choosing logging sites and methods. We believe the success of the VictoriaÂ’s Secret campaign will help in this and have effects that will reverberate across the catalog industry as a whole.

Congratulations and many thanks to those of you who have showed up to Victoria's Secret demonstrations, helped us make signs, or simply given us encouragement as we have worked on this campaign for the past two years! Your support has helped make this landmark victory possible!

Voices for Animals response to a fur article in November's edition of Lamont Jones' Seen Magazine was printed as a letter to the editor in today's Post Gazette. The article can be read here.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus left Pittsburgh Sunday November 5, but our work to fight against circus animal abuse and cruelty doesnÂ’t end with their departure. ItÂ’s important to take steps now to try to prevent their return next year or at least make sure that attendance and ticket sales at circuses that use animals grows smaller and smaller. One way to do this is to put pressure on advertisers and companies that sponsor, promote, and glorify animal circuses.CLICK PARAGRAPH FOR MORE INFO

STAR 100.7 FM is a local radio station popular for playing hits from the Â‘80s and Â‘90s, but while Ringling Bros. was in town they were also in the business of heavily promoting the circus and strongly encouraging their listeners and the public to go see the show. STAR 100.7 not only aired RinglingÂ’s ads (like other radio stations), but also held trivia contests where the prize was frequently tickets to the circus, plus held a special contest on their website in promotion of Ringling, where the top prize was the chance to be a performer in Ringling Bros. Circus for a day.

Please write and call STAR 100.7 and ask them to stop supporting animal cruelty by refusing to sponsor or promote Ringling Bros. Circus in the future in any way and to stop endorsing all circuses that use and abuse animals:

Star 100.7 (WZPT) Station Management
651 Holiday Drive
Second Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
Business Phone: 412.920.9400
Studio Line: 412.333.1007

Information that may help you write your letters on Ringling Bros. and the use of animals in the circus can be found at circuses.com . Thank you for continuing to help the animals!

Voices for Animals has just become incorporated, completing the first big step towards becoming a 501(C)3 non-profit. We should be receiving our 501(c)3 status by January at the latest, so check back soon for more updates. We would like to thank all of our generous volunteers and donors who have helped and supported us through this arduous process.

Voices for Animals has recently discovered that the new Giant Eagle Market District store on Centre Avenue in Shadyside is selling foie gras. As most people familiar with our Foie Gras-Free Pittsburgh campaign know, we have primarily focused on local restaurants that serve foie gras up to this point, but because Giant Eagle is the region's largest grocery store and is such a big name in the Western Pennsylvania area, it is vitally important that we attempt to nip their sale of foie gras in the bud. CLICK PARAGRAPH FOR MORE INFO

It is possible (though we don't know for sure yet) that foie gras is being sold at other Giant Eagle stores as well, such as the other new Market District store in Bethel Park. Please write to and call Giant Eagle and ask them to stop selling foie gras at the Shadyside Market District store and to not sell it at any of their other locations.

David Shapira, CEO, Giant Eagle
101 Kappa Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Mr. Kevin Srigley, Senior Vice President, Market District
101 Kappa Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Mr. Tom Joyce, General Manager
Giant Eagle Market District
5550 Centre Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

Giant Eagle's phone number for customer concerns/complaints: 1-800-553-2324

Giant Eagle's web-based comment section: Click Here