The People Have Spoken: YES! on Prop 2

Congratulations to animal protection advocates throughout the country for getting the word and the vote out for farm animals! In a historic victory, California voters have approved Proposition 2, a landmark measure that bans three of the cruelest factory farming confinement systems – battery cages, veal crates and gestation crates -- in the state by 2015. By a a vote of more than 60 percent Californians sent a clear message to big agribusiness that cruelty to animals is unacceptable.

With this historic vote, California becomes the fifth state to ban gestation crates, the third to ban veal crates and the first to ban battery cages!

While Prop 2 will curtail the suffering of millions of animals in California, the repercussions throughout the country promise to be even more profound: As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. California’s new laws against farm animal cruelty hold the potential to spark an unstoppable precedent for change in the way farm animals are treated nationwide.

Battery cages - BANNED!
95% of the eggs in the US come from hens who are crammed five or more into a cage the size of a filing drawer, with each given less than the size of a piece of typing paper in which to live her life. Prevented from ever touching the ground or extended their wings, laying hens are among the most tortured of all farm animals.

However, with the passage of Prop 2, egg producers will be required to provide birds with enough space to comfortably turn around and spread their wings. – affecting the lives of almost 19 million animals.
Prop 2 will also end the confinement of pregnant sows inside gestation crates and calves inside veal crates. Although these operations are less prevalent in the state than factory egg farms, it will help the thousands of animals currently confined in them and prevent new factory farms from moving into the state.

Gestation crates - BANNED!
The majority of sows bred to provide piglets to the pork industry spend most of their lives inside gestation crates, 2-foot-wide metal enclosures that severely restrict the animals' movement and thwart their natural behaviors.

Veal crates - BANNED!
Crated veal calves are normally confined inside 2-foot-wide enclosures for their entire lives. Usually chained by their necks, these animals cannot even turn around, stretch their limbs, or lie down comfortably.

California’s passage of Prop 2 has monumental implications for farm animals and is likely to ignite a spark around the country. It has also helped raise the consciousness of millions of people nationwide to the plight of farm animals and helped tear down the veil of deception that the factory farming industry has used for so long to shield consumers from the truth of their cruelties.

Prop 2 was a modest proposal, simply asking that these animals receive the most basic considerations, yet its success prompts a dramatic shift in the public’s recognition that animals are sentient, deserving of protection and should not be treated as mere commodities.

California residents helped make it possible to get factory farming systems noticed by the entire country. From commercials across the state to appearances on national television programs, including Ellen and Oprah, animal advocates were able to spread the word to everyone with a television!

This exposure is a victory not only for the animals in California, but for farm animals across the country. As California sets this precedent to ban ALL three confinement systems, we can expect to see other states step up to the plate.

What Happens Now
Producers in California will have until 2015 to convert to more humane systems for hens, calves and gestating sows. But this is not the end: in fact, it is just the beginning. State legislatures around the country are about to begin their next legislative session – providing animal advocates with an opportunity to educate and advance policy similar to prop 2 in their state. Please take action by contacting your state legislators and urging them to introduce or support similar humane legislation in your state.

Happy Birthday to Me (a little late...!)

My birthday (October 18) fell on a Saturday, which entitled me to an entire BIRTHDAY WEEKEND! :) The thing I really wanted to do was go to a pumpkin patch, and Steve took me to two that I picked out.

The first one was Settler's Pond in Beecher, IL, which was not only a pumpkin patch, but a farm animal sanctuary!

Cute little donkey

Hello. Do you have some corn for me?

"I love watching these weird humans. They are so entertaining!"

Proud peacock showing off his feathers

My pumpkin in the pumpkin patch

The second pumpkin patch we went to was Bengtson Pumpkin Farm in Homer Glen, IL.

I loved Hippity Hop Village

Steve is such a good sport!! Can you tell this was meant for a kid about 7 years old? hehehe. It's ok - Steve is just a big kid anyway.

They even had a band there playing "live"...well, sort of..

Steve and I in the corn maze

And I had to add this in just because it was so good - an edible bouquet that Steve had delivered on my b-day. I think I ate all the chocolate covered bananas the moment I opened it. :)

Deb's $20/20 Fundraising Page to Help Farm Animals

Hello friends,

As you know, I love animals. That's why I'm asking you to join me in a critical effort to help reduce the suffering of 20 million -- that’s right, 20 million -- farm animals.

Basically, on Election Day in November, people in California will have the chance to vote on a commonsense measure that will help animals suffering inside factory farms. These animals are crammed into cages and crates so small that they can't even turn around, lie down, or stretch their limbs. Proposition 2 will give them these basic freedoms.

If passed, Prop 2 is expected to have a huge impact on reforming factory farming practices nationwide -- which is why you don't need to live in California to help. It's also why the agribusiness industry is spending millions to fight this reasonable reform, making it critical that animal protection advocates raise money needed to reach voters.

So...today I'm asking you to join me in reaching my goal of having 20 friends donate $20 (or whatever you can! Every bit helps!) to help 20 million animals. Will you join me, and help me reach my goal?

This is a very important cause to me, so thank you -- from me, and the animals! Please click HERE to go to my page! Then click on the red "Donate Now" graphic to donate to my $20/20 Campaign!

Hedgies in the News

GOOD! While I don't necessarily agree with everything in this article, I certainly don't think a hedgehog is a good pet for small children.

CHICAGO - Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter — because of risks for disease.

That's according to the nation's leading pediatricians' group in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.

Besides evidence that they can carry dangerous and sometimes potentially deadly germs, exotic pets may be more prone than cats and dogs to bite, scratch or claw — putting children younger than 5 particularly at risk, the report says.

Young children are vulnerable because of developing immune systems plus they often put their hands in their mouths.

That means families with children younger than 5 should avoid owning "nontraditional" pets. Also, kids that young should avoid contact with these animals in petting zoos or other public places, according to the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report appears in the October edition of the group's medical journal, Pediatrics.

"Many parents clearly don't understand the risks from various infections" these animals often carry, said Dr. Larry Pickering, the report's lead author and an infectious disease specialist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For example, about 11 percent of salmonella illnesses in children are thought to stem from contact with lizards, turtles and other reptiles, Pickering said. Hamsters also can carry this germ, which can cause severe diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps.

Salmonella also has been found in baby chicks, and young children can get it by kissing or touching the animals and then putting their hands in their mouths, he said.

Study co-author Dr. Joseph Bocchini said he recently treated an infant who got salmonella from the family's pet iguana, which was allowed to roam freely in the home. The child was hospitalized for four weeks but has recovered, said Bocchini, head of the academy's infectious diseases committee and pediatrics chairman at Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

Hedgehogs can be dangerous because their quills can penetrate skin and have been known to spread a bacteria germ that can cause fever, stomach pain and a rash, the report said.

With supervision and precautions like hand-washing, contact between children and animals "is a good thing," Bocchini said. But families should wait until children are older before bringing home an exotic pet, he said.

Those who already have these pets should contact their veterinarians about specific risks and possible new homes for the animals, he said.

Data cited in the study indicate that about 4 million U.S. households have pet reptiles. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, all kinds of exotic pets are on the rise, although generally fewer than 2 percent of households own them.

The veterinarian group's Mike Dutton, a Weare, N.H., exotic animal specialist, said the recommendations send an important message to parents who sometimes buy exotic pets on an impulse, "then they ask questions, sometimes many months later."

But a spokesman for the International Hedgehog Association said there's no reason to single out hedgehogs or other exotic pets.

"Our recommendation is that no animal should be a pet for kids 5 and under," said Z.G. Standing Bear. He runs a rescue operation near Pikes Peak, Colo., for abandoned hedgehogs, which became fad pets about 10 years ago.

Chicago's "BIG NIGHT" for animals

This past Thursday, Steve and I attended the Fourth Annual "Big Night" celebrity chefs event in order to help the 30,000 animals who find their way to Chicago's Animal Care and Control shelter (where I volunteer) every year. It was held at the newly restored Tiffany dome in beautiful Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center. There were more than a dozen of Chicago's most renowned chefs that donated their time and incredible food; open bar, blues music by Delmark Recording artist Dave Specter and the Bluebirds; as well as a silent auction hosted by journalist Bill Kurtis. That Girl was there too!!

We had a great time - and there was an amazing turnout! This will be an event that we will definitely be going to every year.