1. Canadian Seal Slaughter Protest

International Day of Action - Canadian Seal Slaughter Protest
WHEN: Wednesday, March 15, 2006, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
WHERE: Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Region Office
401 Burrard Street, (cross street of West Hastings)
ORGANIZED BY: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in cooperation with
Liberation BC

Signs and leaflets are provided, just bring yourself and anyone else you think would like to attend. This demonstration is a rain or shine event.

If you have any questions, please contact Ashley at ashley_fruno@hotmail.com or

604-230-2837. Campaign info is available on www.harpseals.org

2. Anti-fur Event

ANTI-FUR EDUCATION AND AWARENESS EVENT
Date: Saturday March 18th
Time: 12:00 to 2:00
Location: Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson St. Entrance between Hornby and Howe)

For more information, please contact Ashley at ashley_fruno@hotmail.com or

604-230-2837.

3. Help Beavers – Letters Needed

The City of Port Coquitlam is trapping and killing beavers in their municipality. Beavers are killed because the city is concerned that they may cause flooding and property damage. Also, if you are feeling ambitious, most municipalities in the Lower Mainland use lethal trapping as a way of 'controlling nuisance wildlife'. Please write to your municipality to find out. Check out www.banlegholdtraps.com for more info.

Right now efforts are being made to concentrate on Port Coquitlam. Please let council hear your voice! This is so important, especially if you live in PoCo.

Here are some points you can include in your email:

-ask council to stop killing beavers and instead use some of the available alternatives to control water levels such as Beaver Bafflers, the Beavercone or pond levelers. Even just wrapping trees with wire mesh or using other ways to control the food source and habitat of beavers will encourage them to relocate themselves naturally.

-using alternatives to lethal trapping will help the city save money because they pay for themselves year after year and require little maintenance.

-remind council that traps such as the conibear (what the city is currently using), the leg-hold and the snare trap, do not discriminate. These traps have been know to kill and maim pets and have even injured children. Traps such as these are cruel, unnecessary and pose a safety concern in our neighbourhood (e.g. children, companion animals).

Contact Port Coquitlam Mayor & Council:

City of Port Coquitlam
2580 Shaughnessy Street
Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 2A8

Tel 604.927.5410
Fax 604.927.5331

(Please note that City Councillors do not maintain regular office hours)

Mayor Scott Young: youngs@portcoquitlam.ca

Councillor Mike Bowen: bowenm@portcoquitlam.ca
Councillor Arlene Crowe: crowea@portcoquitlam.ca
Councillor Mike Forrest: forrestm@portcoquitlam.ca
Councillor Greg Moore: mooreg@portcoquitlam.ca
Councillor Darrell Penner: pennerd@portcoquitlam.ca
Councillor Michael Wright: wrightm@portcoquitlam.ca

Please forward replies to Mike Rogozinski at mrogozinski@shaw.ca

4. Urge Starbucks to Buck the Rodeo – Letters Needed

Starbucks Corporation has faced intense public scrutiny recently for sponsoring various rodeos and rodeo organizations, including Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming, the Miss Rodeo Washington Association, the PRCA Belton Rodeo, and the Calgary Stampede. In some instances, Starbucks donated money; in others, it donated beverages. Regardless of the nature of the donation, the company that’s been heralded for its progressive policies and hot coffee is suddenly alienating consumers through its affiliation with cruelty to animals.

Rodeos are a cruel form of “entertainment.” Every national animal protection organization opposes rodeos because of the events’ inherent cruelty. Rodeo promoters say that the animals are wild and rough, but without the use of spurs, tail-twisting, and bucking straps cinched around their abdomens, these frightened and usually docile animals wouldn’t even buck. They are often terrorized when participants shock them with electric prods, twist their necks, yank them by their tails or legs, slam them to the ground, or otherwise batter them. Following a life of confinement, abuse, pain, and fear, the final destination for most of these animals is the slaughterhouse.

The Calgary Stampede, a 10-day annual rodeo and exhibition that boasts hideous events such as chuckwagon races, bears responsibility for the deaths of at least nine horses in July 2005 alone. Animals have fallen, drowned, jumped to their deaths, and sustained injuries severe enough to require euthanasia.

For more information on the cruelty of rodeos, www.vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca or www.bucktherodeo.com

Please write a short, polite letter to Starbucks and urge the company to live up to its socially responsible reputation by adopting a company-wide policy prohibiting rodeo sponsorships:

Jim Donald, CEO
Starbucks Corp.
P.O. Box 3717
Seattle, WA 98124
206-447-1575
206-447-0828 (fax)
Email Starbucks (form on their website)

www.vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca