BayTails

Bureaucratic bloodlust is in full sway at Skanda Vale in Wales, where police are dragging chanting monks and civilians from Shambo's temple in an attempt to drag the bull to slaughter.

Monks earlier today turned away the would-be killers, demanding a warrant. When the y returned with a warrant, the gates were locked. The temple was surrounded by hundreds of chanting men, women, and children. Provoking bitter laughter, officials asked the monks to stop chanting lest the audible support "distress the animal."

Now the chanters are being forcibly dragged from the temple. More as it happens.

The monks have come up with numerous non-lethal solutions, including a charity in India willing to take Shambo, but nothing less than death will satisfy the authorities, seemingly.

Full story

Shambo's Webcam

Says Bay Area photographer Barry Toranto: "Dogmotion pictures capture 'dogism,' the spirit of dog. The slow exposures push the boundaries of photography by capturing what could not be seen otherwise, except perhaps out of the corner of the eye. I enjoy the element of surprise in working with this series. The timing and action create unpredictable images: the pattern of sand, the placement of a ball in space, or the particular twist of a dog in motion."

Some of the resulting pictures are heart-stoppingly evocative and beautiful, at least to any of us who ever loved a dog who played at the park. Toranto has gathered them in a new book that's a great addition to any dog-lover's collection, not to mention a great gift for the dog person on your list. Sample images and ordering info at barrytoranto.com.

What a face!

Big Bird is a sweet young gray and white domestic shorthair cat, currently awaiting her forever home at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. A recent mom, she nurtured her kittens well, and now that they've left the nest she's ready for a bit of nurturing herself. Is she the kitty for you? Learn more about her here.

After losing their court battle to keep the sacred bull Shambo alive, the monks of Skanda Vale in Wales are calling on supporters to join them in prayer and noncooperation around the bull's home at the monastery.

Shambo, who's been lovingly nurtured and worshipped since his birth at the center six years ago, tested positive for bovine TB in the spring. Despite the fact he's in excellent health and isolated from other animals, authorities are determined to slaughter him rather than allow him to be treated.

The monks, who see Shambo's life as every bit as valuable as their own, have refused to cooperate in committing the ultimate betrayal of his trust. Said Brother Alex, a monk at the temple, “They will have to come back with their warrant and, no doubt, their gang of thugs." Shambo's primary caregiver, Brother Michael, added that not only will the MooTube Internet camera record any attempts to take Shambo away, "he's locked here and we will be having an act of worship in front of where he is. If the Welsh Assembly Government want to take him out of there they will have to interrupt an act of worship.”

Welsh authorities, meanwhile, have announced their intention to drag Shambo to slaughter tomorrow at 8 a.m. British time, saying, "We appeal to the community to co-operate fully in order to minimise distress to the animal, and to ensure the safety of all concerned." Apparently the distress they plan to cause "the animal" doesn't count.

The monks have issued an urgent call for help here to protect Shambo.

All-day workshop at Marin Humane Society, followed by reception and book-signing at Toby's Feed Barn in Point Reyes Station.

World-renowned ethologist and author Dr. Marc Bekoff will captivate attendees as he shares his unique exploration of animals as emotional beings, and the ways in which their social encounters inform our understanding of cooperation, forgiveness and morality among all beings. Throughout his work, Bekoff challenges the idea that science and the ethical treatment of animals are incompatible.

Registration and info...

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has ordered Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to stay away from training camp until the league finishes reviewing the federal indictments against him and three cronies for allegedly running a dogfighting operation, the sheer depravity of which has sent shock waves around the country.

According to the football site Scout.com, Goodell wrote to Vick conceding that on the one hand the court proceedings must run their course, and on the other, NFL players did not have to be convicted of a crime to be ousted on grounds of moral turpitude.

Wrote Goodell, "While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy.”

That policy states: "Persons who fail to live up to this standard of conduct are guilty of conduct detrimental and subject to discipline, even where the conduct itself does not result in a conviction of a crime."

Vick continues to draw his NFL preseason pay. But Scout.com points out that if, as is not wholly unlikely, he's suspended for a significant number of games, the team is likely to go looking for other talent.

Full article.

"Many years ago, my mother and my siblings made a long awaited escape from violence in our home away from my father. Our beautiful dog Clyde could not come with us and my father at the time had him put to sleep. I still cry. Thank you Senator, from Clyde and family."
— California

Comments on the ASPCA's online petition thanking California State Senator Sheila Kuehl, author of S.B. 353

When we hear of domestic violence victims who endure years of abuse from their tormentors, we sometimes find our shock and empathy mixed with the burning question of why they didn't just get out before, in all too many cases, somebody wound up dead.

The reasons are as unique as the victims, but one that's increasingly apparent is that they're afraid to leave because their abuser has threatened to harm or kill their animals — according to the New York-based ASPCA, 83 percent of directors of the largest battered women's shelters in the U.S. said their clients discussed incidents of pet abuse in the family; 71 percent of pet-owning woman in shelters reported that their animal had been threatened, injured or killed by their abuser; and 49 percent of pet-owning victims who fled their abusers continued to worry about their pets after they entered a shelter. Exacerbating the problem — as we saw during Hurricane Katrina, most shelters that take humans won't take animals.

"One of the reasons women don't leave is because they don't have a safe place for their animals," says Keri Fennell of the Marin Humane Society. "It's a very common thing, but people don't know about it." "Battered women's shelters don't allow animals. This leaves (abuse victims) with two lousy choices — staying in their abusive relationships, or leaving their pets behind," adds Scott Delucchi of the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA.

That's why, starting in the '90s, both groups, as well as San Francisco Animal Care and Control, stepped up with programs offering safe havens for the pets of domestic abuse victims in their respective counties (regardless of gender, though to date those using the program have been women, partly because of referrals from groups serving abused women). Companions in Crisis at Marin, the Safe Pets Program at Peninsula Humane, and the Safe Pet program at SFACC offer a secure, protected place for the non-human family members to stay — usually for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, but there's wiggle room depending on the individual situation — while the human family members are getting themselves to safety.

In all but a couple of cases at both Marin and Peninsula Humane over the years, pets and humans are eventually reunited. (According to Judy Choy at SFACC, all the pets in the program so far have rejoined their people.) In rare instances, the abuse victim is so overwhelmed she asks the shelter to find the pet a new home, and they do.

Surprisingly, given current levels of reported (as opposed to hidden) domestic violence, relatively few — rarely as many as a dozen per year — have taken advantage of these programs. "I see it as a matter of the word not getting out that the service is available, because domestic violence is still rampant," says Fennell, who adds that Marin Humane is looking at new approaches to outreach, perhaps a card the police could leave with victims when they're checking out abuse situations.

Shelter folks involved with the program say that however many people and their pets they can help, it's one of the most rewarding aspects of their job. Says Delucchi, "For most women we help, their pet is the only thing right in their lives. It's incredibly rewarding to provide them temporary housing at no cost."

On Another Front

Historically, the problem has been made worse by the fact that the law, burdened by the antiquated viewpoint that one's non-human family members were simply "property," had no way to protect animals caught up in these situations.

That may be about to change. Currently pending in California's state senate is S.B. 353, authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl. It provides that courts may specifically assign custody of animals to one party in a domestic dispute, and also provides that court orders requiring the abuser to stay away from the victim may specifically require staying away from the animals as well. If it passes, California will join Maine, Vermont and New York, which have also enacted similar legislation. Here's to it becoming a trend.

Amid the outcry about the appalling dogfighting operation of Michael Vick and his vile cronies (see Gwen Knapp's excellent column in the San Francisco Chronicle), let's not forget that there are 50-odd canine victims of this obscenity still alive, and unless something affirmative is done to save them they will almost certainly be killed, because hey, they're "unadoptable." Before all else, THEIR well-being must be ensured. They've already spent their whole lives in a sadistic Catch-22 where they were viciously killed if they were insufficiently vicious, and now they'll be killed across the board because they managed to evade that fate.

The two organizations who are doing the biggest grandstanding and money-soliciting around this issue are PETA and HSUS. PETA, let's just say, is not a group we support — not because of its positions on animal rights, which we do support vigorously, but because, in addition to advocating the extermination of all pit bulls, they're well known (and unapologetic) for taking animals from individuals and shelters with promises to get them loving homes and killing them, which came to light when the bodies of the pets they killed turned up in North Carolina dumpsters. (Somewhat inexplicably, the perps were found not guilty of animal cruelty and obtaining "property" under false pretenses, but convicted of... littering). In short, no one who's ever loved an animal should give them a dime. (The petakillsanimals site is clearly a front for something like the agribiz industry, Big Pharma, or other institutionalized animal abusers in whose side PETA is a big thorn, but it certainly brings out a lot of facts.)

The HSUS, on the other hand, does a lot of good work, even though most of it is in the area of advocacy rather than any hands-on work. But at present they are using the Vick incident as an occasion to pursue their anti-dogfighting campaign, which is certainly laudable but isn't going to do a thing for these dogs. To the contrary, its Web site says, with the crocodile tears usually deployed in such situations:

Q: Where are the dogs?

A: We can mourn their fate by standing up against dogfighting, by breaking this ugly cycle and putting an end to dogfighting. We can try to ensure that this does not happen to more dogs.

... and, of course, give money to the HSUS's anti-dogfighting campaign.

That is not remotely good enough.

What needs to happen is for some reputable group to step up with a plan to care for these dogs and others like them without falling for the false dichotomy of "adoptable" and "unadoptable," or the false dichotomy that the only options for "unadoptable" dogs are death or life in a cage. If they can't be integrated into an existing "community," a secure community of their own must be created — at Michael Vick's expense.

However this shakes out, Michael Vick must be required to spend his ill-gotten money on a sanctuary where these dogs and other similar victims can, after being spayed, neutered, and receiving necessary medical treatment, live out their natural days in peace, being lovingly cared for by DECENT people. With grass, trees, and houses, with individual full-time live-in caregivers who are savvy and committed to protecting them and meeting their needs.

If it's in a rustic location behind a 20-foot fence, so be it. But these dogs can and must have a good life. The "adoptable" ones, who probably exist, should be adopted to knowledgeable and loving homes; the "unadoptable" ones must have a safe place to land and have a quality life. Anything less simply compounds the crimes against them, this time at the hands of people supposedly dedicated to helping animals.