THE WAR IN AMERICA YOU NEVER SEE IN THE NEWS

A war within America grows more aggressive every day – never seen in the news --  the war against animals and insects such as bees.  Thousands of animals are killed every day by the US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service (USDA WS) and the U.S. Forest Service.  Yes, hundreds of professional killers hired by the government go to work every day in America  to produce as many animal corpses as possible. 

 To learn more, on the Internet go to Defenders of Wildlife, In Defense of Animals, and World Wildlife Service.  Among the many animal groups these three are the ones I interact with most frequently.

These groups keep us informed about local, state and national bills concerning animal welfare and, more somberly, the ongoing massacres organized by the federal government,  paid for with taxpayer money.  Some states have their own programs of killing.

I am distressed beyond endurance about government spending of tens of millions of our tax dollars to kill more than 100,000 wolves, bobcats, foxes, black bears and other native carnivores every year.

See below for a listing of just some of the animal-kill news from today.

What does it matter? 

No American citizen has been allowed to vote on the government’s massacre of "wild" animals in the west. The real push to kill them comes from wealthy businessmen and ranchers of the cattle industry who impel these actions in exchange for their campaign contributions. All land is for the cattle industry – they get the government to kill all other creatures to increase their convenience and profits.  No one has voted to turn the American west over to the cattle industry.  American advisors continually counsel "emerging" countries to protect rather than kill their native wildlife since the native animal life is such an integral part of each country's identity and heritage. What about  America? These animals are as American as you and I.

We have to look differently into humanity's place on earth. All humans, including Americans, exist WITHIN the web of life -- not apart or above it. Why continue to ignore the signs that illustrate the need for us to become guardians of the web of life? Not just for moral reasons but for survival itself. No one knows where the tipping point is as we trample about in the web of life as if our rubber stamping of the bottom line policies of out dated capitalist practices would ultimately protect or save us.  Really?

The killing of wild horses and wolves and the other native American animals sends a message to children and to all the peoples of the world. Nothing is so powerful as the example.  Do we want to continue using killing as a knee-jerk solution to mis-labeled “problems?”  The dollars these animal killers fold into their bank accounts are for today. The destruction is for eternity.

In the new consciousness now arising about humanity's place on earth we see clearly that it's not just a momentary choice but a necessity to become guardians rather than senseless destroyers of the web of life. We are not apart or above it.  Within it we have our being and our hope.  No one knows whether or if a human soul exists.  If it does, can you think of a more abiding place than the web of life itself?  

TODAY’S ANIMAL MASSACRE NEWS;

--In Montana the state legislature has a bill to increase the number of otters the state is allowed to trap and kill.

--At Bush Airport in Houston they are killing thousands of birds.

--In Kentucky they are using gas chambers identical to those used in the Nazi genocide to kill cats, dogs and other animals at shelters

--In Annapolis Maryland they have contracted with the U.S. Wildlife Services to kill deer in a 90 acre woodland.

--The City of Berkeley in California has proposed to kill  up to a thousand of California Ground Squirrels and Western Pocket Gophers in Cesar Chavez Park, formerly known as Berkeley Landfill,  situated along San Francisco Bay.

--Idaho and its macho governor, Butch Otter, hold rallies to kill wolves. The state now is revealed as using traps to torture and crush lynxes. The government appears to want the state to contain only commercial development and housing tracts. Earlier this year, Idaho officials hired a hunter/trapper to kill two entire wolf families in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area, and then, in cooperation with USDA Wildlife Services, gunned down another 23 wolves from helicopters. Idaho State Senator, Bert Brackett sponsored a bill to allocate $2 million of taxpayer money to kill hundreds of wolves.  Idaho officials stood by private parties who conducted wolf and coyote killing contests, with no objection to a private foundation's $500 bounty for each wolf killed.

--In Holley, New York the Fire Department is gearing up for the eighth annual fundraiser “Squirrel Slam,”  which gives prizes to persons, including children of 14 and upwards,  who kill the most and largest squirrels.

--Many large companies, especially Proctor & Gamble, continue to torture and kill thousands of animals such as rabbits and cats by out-of-date and ineffective “testing” so they can boast of cosmetic and other products as being hypo-allergenic. Representative Jim Moran of Virginia introduced a new bill to end animal testing in cosmetics,  H.R. 4148, entitled the "Humane Cosmetics Act," which would prohibit animal testing in the U.S. cosmetics industry and phase out the sale of cosmetics tested on animals in other countries.

Moran said "The U.S. can and should phase out the use of animals in cosmetic safety testing. Not only are animal-based tests fundamentally inhumane, they also rely on outmoded science that can fail to accurately predict safety for humans." 

--Companies such as Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta and others are completely free of government enquiry and sanctions as they make millions on pesticides containing  neonicotinoids, or "neonics," a class of pesticides that many scientific studies have linked to the devastating decline in bee populations across the country. It has been proven that these neonics are toxic to bees. Yet the EPA remains silent and inactive on this matter.

When I have written on the White House or presidential Comment Site, I receive meaningless public relations answers such as the following auto-signed by the President: “My Administration will keep working to protect animal welfare in areas where there is a role for the Federal Government.  Please know I value your perspective, and I appreciate your thoughts on how we can meet our responsibilities.” 

 

This language is appalling in light of the government’s role in animal massacre.  This president has descried elephant poaching in Africa – good for him – but he remains blind and silent to the animal killing war in the United States.  He is not alone – no other president has addressed this tragic American activity.