19 February 2005 ... The Animal Entry

I am teaching Tegan the guinea pig how to play the piano.

We were practicing the other evening. She played four or five notes and then got discouraged because they weren't a chord or in harmony or anything. That's okay, soon she will know the scales and then I will teach her to read music. Anyone got some sheet music for Guinea Pigs on the Piano?

At lunch at work on Friday, the big boss comes up and talks about Oregon, saying it's his favorite part of the country. "I'll have to write down all the great restaurants I found! A lot of fish places," he says.

I scrunch up my face in disgust, and shake my head, no. "You don't like fish?" he asks. "I'm vegetarian," I remind him. (Actually, I'm vegan, but some days I don't feel like explaining what a vegan is!)

"Oh, yeah, I knew that," he says. "And you don't eat fish?"

I'm doing well because I've not rolled my eyes at him. I have a pretty low tolerance for stupid people. "Fish ARE animals!" I tell him. He nods and babbles on about some niece who doesn't eat anything [sic. anyONE] with a face.

And speaking of work. Looking out from the lunch room, across the road, there is a glorious open space which has been left wild. It's maybe a block and a half or two city blocks, square. It is lovely desert, with scrub and bushes here and there.

They have recently put up signs and done surveying. They are building a huge office and warehouse complex.

I am heart broken. Because a family of quail live there. They are Gambel’s Quail, and you can see them running here and there almost everyday. In the spring the adults will have a string of little ones running after them. Such a delight to see them in the heart of the city.

The construction will kill the family. And that makes me so sad.

Since I am a paying member of several animal welfare and animal rights groups, I get mailers from several other animal and environmental groups, asking for money.

The other day I got a thick packet from the National Wildlife Federation... Filled with a notepad, return address labels and five or six notecards. The art on several of the notecards was so lovely, I actually grabbed my checkbook to give them 25$...

Somehow, saner voices in my head prevailed. "You need to check this group out... You know how the WWF funds animal experiments?! Maybe this is another group that supports stuff that is wrong!"

Sure enough... The National Wildlife Federation's official web site looks like they are doing a lot of great stuff, for animals and the environment. I am concerned, tho, since I can't find anything on their website about their official stand on _any_ animal issues beyond "protecting wildlife".

A quick search yields some sites for state affiliates... several not only support hunting, but it seems like that's their main focus: not helping animals, but "conserving" them just so they can kill them.

So, the NWF will not be getting my meager funds. No matter how many pretty things they throw at me.

The web sites that I have been frequenting, lately...

• Care2
  What? An environmental community with over 4 million members? Whoa! I can't believe it! I've joined, roamed around for two weeks now, and not found a single troll. Care2 is like Static Heaven!



• Vegan.com
  This is where you can pick up a free PDF copy of Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating. Go get it, I think everyone should read this book. Erik Marcus also does a radio show, available online, and links the related news articles.



• Vegan Freaks
  Brand new blog which has caught my attention. Thoughtful and amusing. "Does meat make you stupid?" yeah, it looks that way from here, too.



• Animal Writings
  I just started going through the essays and Thoughts of the Day on this great site by Gary, and wow, I am impressed! I don't know where he gets the strength to keep writing, but kudos to him and much applause. Go there. Read.

okay, people. That's it for now.

Go vegan and be happy!