Florida Voices for Animals, Inc. PO Box 17523 www.floridavoicesforanimals.org Tampa FL 33682 fvaonline@yahoo.com 727-656-8368 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007

It’s official: the holiday hullabaloo has begun! Throughout the autumn months, simply turning on the television or tak-ing a stroll through a local mall means being inundated with celebratory songs, festive decorations, and advertisements promoting that “special something for a special someone.”

As you consider what gifts to buy for your loved ones, it’s important to remember the power you hold as a consumer, not just during the holidays, but all year long. By shopping with your compassionate values on your mind and in your heart, you can truly make a difference in the lives of ani-mals! - API www.api4animals.org/articles.php?more=1&p=365

Here are some shopping suggestions to make this holiday season a humane one for all living beings.

Tampa Bay’s 2nd Annual Vegan Thanksgiving Day Feast Thursday, November 22, 2007 (Thanksgiving Day)

Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa 11400 Morris Bridge Road (directions: UUtampa.org) Tampa, Florida 33637-1902 Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm Social Gathering ~ 2:00pm - 5:30pm Potluck Dinner

All food will be *Vegan (*Vegan = No animal products). Please bring a vegan dish for 6-8 people, with a serving utensil and ingredient list/recipe. Warming facilities will be available. Water, juices and coffee/tea will be provided. All welcome: Vegans, Vegetarians, Non-Vegetarians, Children $5.00/adult with dish to feed 6+ people $15.00/adult without dish to share *Children under 12 free *Discount with student ID

To RSVP, Volunteer or For More Information: Website: www.vegtampathanksgiving.com E-mail: info@vegtampathanksgiving.com Phone: (813) 365-0317

*RSVP is required. Space is limited, so reserve early. ~ Sponsored by Florida Voices for Animals.

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Regard for Animals: Beyond Cute By BARBARA SNOW (Executive Director of the Humane Society of Pinellas County) Looking back over the past quarter-century, I have seen many advances in animal welfare and protection. Laws have been upgraded to felonies for animal fighting and animal cruelty, and city and county animal control agencies have become animal service agencies by adding adoption depart-ments, spay/neuter surgeries and humane-education pro-grams. Television programs like Animal Cops on the Animal Planet channel promote awareness of the plight of animals and encourage zero tolerance for animal cruelty. Veterinary clinics are working closer with humane organizations to promote responsible pet ownership. Law enforcement agen-cies are more willing to investigate, charge and prosecute people who neglect and abuse animals. Judges feel obli-gated to hold perpetrators of animal cruelty accountable, with stronger fines and prison sentences. I have seen chil-dren who express love and compassion for animals in their early years grow into adults working in the animal protec-tion field, making a difference in the lives of animals.

It has become more acceptable for soci-ety to be concerned about the social well-being of animals in addition to providing for their physical needs. Pets are treated more like companions and friends even though state laws

(including Florida) still consider them "property." Grief counselors trained in human loss are expanding services to include clients in deep grief over the loss of their pets. Then, sadly, some horrific news item comes along to bring us right back to the reality that there is much more work for us to do. Two items in recent news, the national issue of the charges against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for dog fighting, to which he admitted guilt this week, and the local report of Nicholas Densmore, charged with animal cruelty for allegedly sodomizing his grandparents' York-shire terrier, remind us that many sociopathic evils that tar-get innocent animals still exist in our society. Animals still are abused, tortured and exploited for money, entertainment, power, control, ego and in the name of "sport." Humane-slaughter laws were passed more than 50 years ago, yet many apathetic and cruel shortcuts are still taken in the use of animals for food. In spite of many alternatives to animal testing, unnecessary experimentation still goes on. Illegal hunting continues and, without enough enforcement resources, is often tolerated by society. And for us at the Humane Society of Pinellas, every day, we see pets turned over to us because they have become an in-convenience to their owners. This lets us know just how important it is for the Humane Society to be the last hope for all these animals and how needed our work is in being their voice and advocate.

While state law still determines acts of cru-elty against animals to be a lesser evil than against humans, it is important for us to un-derstand that the violence is the same. While a human being may have infinitely more value in society, there is abso-lutely no difference in the pain and suffering of each.

Until we recognize the link between animal and human violence, and until we equate crimes of violence against any sentient victim, human or animal, we will not advance in the prevention of violence. Let us continue to push for their right to co-exist peacefully with us.

Until we do so, and until we interpret our biblical dominion over animals as stewardship rather than utility, we may never be truly civilized. With the compassion and action of caring people, we can achieve this for animals in our life-time. ============================= Earn $100 for FVA with out spending a dime!

SunTrust has made community involvement an important part of the relationships they have in the communities they serve. Now, as part of their commitment, they’re offering a special opportunity that can help you help us. SunTrust

will donate $100 to the charity of your choice. Sign up to-day and choose FVA as your charity. ============================= Help keep Pleasurable Kingdom by Jonathan Balcombe in circulation at the Hillsborough Public Library System. Call 813-273-3652 to place a hold to the most convenient library for you to pick up.

FVA’s BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Myriam Parham VP of Youth Outreach: Jodi Chemes VP of Media Relations: John Moyer Secretary: Suzanne House Treasurer: Marie Galbraith Others: Lana Smithson

Karin Kreutzer

NEWSLETTER STAFF Publisher: Karin Kreutzer Editors: Myriam Parham Lana Smithson

BOARD ADVISORS Trevor Chin Kris Dotson Dean Stanford Susan Roghair

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Thanks! • Bark in the Park: Suzanne House, Diane Koon, Leslie

Pandolfo, Myriam Parham • Jodi Chemes and Dean Stanford for coordinating and

setting up numerous tabling events in our community. • Dog Wash Fundraiser: Karin Kreutzer, Leslie Pan-

dolfo, Diane Koon, Bruce Caldwell, John Moyer, Shawn Williams (Lost Angels Animal Rescue), Susan Ackerman, Suzanne House, Christine Dvorak, Trevor M Chin, Troy Weekes, Le'Keysia Hobdy, Bev Powell, Jo Jo Hulett (Cat Call), Myriam Par-ham, Amber Parham, Sonal Mehta, Deborah Mul-ler, Marie Galbraith. Gift Donations From: AvoDerm Natural Vegetarian Dog Food, Big Cat Rescue, Bay Day Camp for Dogs

============================= At The Polls

U.S. Congress Gives Final Approval to Leg-islation to Knock Out Organized Animal Fighting in the United States After an almost six-year battle, the U.S. Congress has passed tough new legislation to crack down on organized dog fighting and cockfighting. In late April, U.S. Senate approved by unanimous consent a bill, H.R. 137, providing felony-level penalties for interstate and foreign animal fighting activities, and outlawing commerce in cockfighting weapons. The House passed the measure on March 26 by a vote of 368-39. The bill has been sent to President Bush for his signature.

I know many of you took action and have been staying in close touch about this bill. This truly helps promote a more humane and safer society and is cause for celebration! ..............................................

FVA Member (Deano) Visits Reps Office to Discuss Horse Slaughter Bill. With the help of Jake Oster of the HSUS, I stopped into the office of Congressman Gus Bilirakis to ask him to support and co-sponsor the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act HR-503/S-301. I haven't yet heard back from him, but there isn't a doubt in my mind that he won't support this. Now its your turn. Contact your congressman and ask them to support HR-503 in the house, and contact your Senators to support S-301. This will end the slaughter of over 100,000 horses a year in this country, and also end the ex-port of them to other countries for slaughter. - Deano https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_horse_slaughter3 ..............................................

FVA Activity Highlights During the summer, FVA President, Myriam Parham, par-ticipated in several public hearings related to the planned

growth of Pasadena Lakes Community in Pasco County. As a result of these hearings several proposed access roads through a wetlands area were removed from the 50 year growth plan for this community.

July - North American Vegetarian Society's Vegetarian Summerfest at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, PA - Myriam Parham, RD, CDE presented several lectures including: "Vegan Nutrition Basics"; "Prenatal & Infant Vegan Nutrition"; a panel on "How Vegetarian Children Deal with Family & Friends" and participated in a panel (that included Dan Piraro & Victoria Moran) on "Careers that Promote Healthy Lifestyles"

July - Nikki Benoit, Jodi Chemes, Karin Kreutzer, John Moyer and Dean Stanford attended TAFA (Taking Action For farm Animals) in Washington DC. August - Fox 13 Kathy Fountain Show, Myriam Parham & Melodie Good participated in a panel on "Raising Vegan Children.” They had to deal with notorious anti-vegan food writer Nina Planck rudely interrupting all the speakers dur-ing the program. August - Centro Tampa (Tampa Tribune's Spanish newspaper) Myriam & Amber interview and photo pub-lished in the August 17-23 issue (pg 7). Can view video interview in her home also featuring her vegetarian dog, "Wiggles" at website: http://www.centrotampa.com/main_page/vegetarianas/index.html. Can also access web-site by going to centrotampa.com to multimedia to reporta-jes to vegetarianos hispanos.

September - Nikki Benoit, Jodi Chemes and Dean Stanford participated in the Walk For Farm Animals in St Pete. Their team "Fluffy Potato Moo" raised $1550 for Farm Sanctuary. www.FarmSanctuary.com

October - Listen for Jodi Chemes doing an interview on WAMT 1190 - talk radio - on 10/13. www.myspace.com/thegirlsgonegreen

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FVA Annual Dog Wash Fundraiser

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FVA on Public Access Cable Producers: John Moyer Melissa Bray Beverly Powell Pinellas County: Access Pinellas www.accesspinellas.org) Ch 96 Contact 727-453-3057 for a schedule Hillsborough County: Tampa Bay Community Network (www.tbcn.org) Undercover TV (813) 254-1687 Ch 19 Wednesday 6:30pm Ch 20 Friday 6:30pm Tampa Bay Community Network Funding Cut 10/01/07, A room full of passionate and inspiring residents asked the Hillsborough County Commissioners to re-instate the funding for public access television on September 5th and September 20th. Public access television has received $355,443 annually from the county for the past six years. These residents consisted of producers at the Tampa Bay Community Network (TBCN) and many supporting view-ers. Although there were numerous examples of how pro-gramming has benefited both non-human and human ani-mals alike in our community, the commissioners voted as follows:

Rose Ferlita: 813-272-5470 voted to re-instate funding Kevin White: 813-272-5720 voted to re-instate funding Mark Sharpe: 813-272-5735 voted to re-instate funding Ken Hagen: 813-272-5452 voted to not re-instate funding Al Higginbotham: 813-272-5740 voted to not re-instate funding Jim Norman: 813-272-5725 voted to not re-instate funding Brian Blair: 813-272-5730 voted to not re-instate funding Suzanne House and John Moyer attended both meetings and explained the valuable tool that TBCN has offered FVA in educating the public about animal abuse/exploitation and raising awareness about how we, as individuals, can help stop animal cruelty. Please contact your Hillsborough County Commissioners. Thank those that voted to re-instate funding to the TBCN and express your disappointment with those that voted to not re-instate funding. We will still continue airing our FVA cable show due to current funding by the City of Tampa, but this funding is not guaranteed in the future. Please contact your city coun-cilman to request their continued support in funding the TBCN. As a non-profit organization, free public access tele-vision is an incredibly important tool. It allows us an oppor-tunity to get our message to many people about all the ways that we can help the animals in need and be a voice for them. Thank you. - John Moyer

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Time to Clean Out the Closet! Florida Voices for Animals is having a yard sale on November 17th from 8am-1pm to benefit the animals. Please contact us if you have something to donate or to volun-teer. fvaonline@yahoo.com Location: Buggica residence 7212 N. Habana, Tampa, FL 33614

============================ Dead Greyhounds Discovered at Kennel Club Daytona Beach, Fl. Cocaine positive drug tests on grey-hounds racing at the Daytona Beach Greyhound Track trig-gered a visit to the kennel compound by state inspectors on Tuesday, August 21st. When they entered the suspect kennel they found much more than what they were looking for: three dead racing greyhounds. Representatives from the Di-vision of Pari-Mutuel of Racing, the Sheriff’s Department and Volusia County Animal Control have been swarming the compound for the last two days. Trainer, Neal Ulrich, who runs the Bread Winner Kennel, has been suspended and is looking at having all his dogs removed from his kennel operation. The bodies of the dead greyhounds have been transferred to the University of Florida for necropsy to determine the cause of death. It is not known at this time precisely what the dogs died from, said Greyhound Protection League President (GPL), Susan Netboy, but one can be certain that it was not natural causes and that the dogs suffered a lonely, painful death. Unnecessary death and suffering is far too common in the dog racing industry said Florida GPL representative Carla Wilson. The public is fed up with this so called-sport; the time to shut it down is long overdue. The Greyhound Pro-tection League is a national non-profit greyhound advocacy organization. The league estimates that more than 12,000 greyhounds are destroyed every year. ADD WEBSITE

FVA Visit to Kindred Spirits Sanctuary in Ocala, Fl

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News of Interest .............................................

A Spay & Neuter Vaccine? GonaCon is a breakthrough new spay/neuter vaccine being tested. It's being developed by scientists at the U.S. De-partment of Agriculture’s (USDA) Wildlife Services (WS) National Wild-life Research Center (NWRC). It has been said that it can work on Feral & Stray Cats & dogs. Read more about it: www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_wsgonacondeer.html ..............................................

(AAC) is a program to increase the leafleting of vegetarian pamphlets to students. AAC reaches tens of thousands of students who typically would not approach a literature table. Distribution Totals

A Day in the Leafleting Life of Jodi Chemes Sept 5, 2007 - I gave a booklet to Carly last week and since then she has gone vegan and helped me leaflet! I think she should win an award for being the quickest meat-eater turned activist ever! I also gave her a box that she plans to distribute over the next few weeks!

Here are my top 3 interactions of the day: 1 - A young man came up to me and asked me how he could join my group. I told him about Vegan Outreach and Adopt A College and he said he wants to help leaflet in the near future and also wants to help us with local tabling events! I gave him a GCFE (Guide to Cruelty Free Eating pamplet) and an AML (A Meaningful Life pamphlet). 2 - After I offered her a booklet a girl said "No thanks, I'd rather help abused children.” I said, "We can help both." She kept walking. My absolute favorite exchange: 3 - A young man approached me and said "I just want to tell you something. Last year I got one of these and I quit eating mammals because of it. So, this is definitely working." I gave him a GCFE. I honestly think that so far this semester, the receptiveness of people has skyrocketed. I'm hopeful that this trend will con-tinue and with each new semester will bring more open-minded and compassionate people. - Jodi Chemes

Jodi has already handed out 3,709 EIYLMs (Even If You Like Meat pamphlet), between UF & USF this semester, and Dean Stanford has distributed 1,650 at UF. Keep it up!

Visit www.VeganOutreach.com for more information.

August 1, 2003 - September 30, 2007

Schools Leafleted 835

Brochures Distributed 1,489,869

New Vegetarians* 37,246

Mammals and Birds Now Spared a Life of Suffering per Year* 1,303,610

Mammals and Birds Now Spared a Life of Suffering Over 50 Years* 65,180,500

*Theoretical (www.veganhealth.org/colleges/calc)

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"A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe,

a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical illusion of this consciousness. This illusion is a

prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affec-tion for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion

to embrace all living beings and all of nature." - Albert Einstein

.............................................. FVA board member Marie Galbraith was injured in a car ac-cident late Saturday, October 6. She is in great spirits and recover-ing well. Our thoughts are with her. If you would like to send your best to Marie, please feel free to send a card to the FVA P.O. Box address listed on page 1.

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Vegan Outreach has put together a page documenting the links between food choices and global warming. The report from the United Nation's Food and Agri-culture Organization, combined with re-search from the University of Chicago, shows convincingly that our food choices are at least as important as our other choices in terms of our contribution to global warming. It is, of course, much easier to drive a different car or use CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lights) than to choose vegetar-ian. But we use this well-heeded research on a hot topic to bring people to consider the animals' plight, and inform them of the compassionate alternative.

www.veganoutreach.org/globalwarming.html ============================

Mission: OrangeTM is a focused effort to create a country of humane communities, one community at a time, where ani-mals receive the compassion and respect they deserve—a nation where there is no more unnecessary euthanasia of adoptable animals simply because of a lack of resources and awareness. ASPCA® Mission: Orange™ is going to concentrate its ef-forts in Hillsborough County—which, at more than 1.1 mil-lion people, has the largest population of Hillsborough, Pi-nellas and Pasco . With success, the program could be ex-panded to neighboring counties in the future.

Holiday Lentil Loaf Ingredients (use vegan versions): 1 small onion 1 clove garlic 2 stalks celery 2 teaspoon sage 3 cups cooked lentils 3 cups cooked wild rice (you can use a wild rice/brown rice mix here too) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs 2 tablespoon vinegar 2 egg equivalents 2 tablespoon whole wheat flour fresh ground black pepper and sea salt Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop onion and celery finely, and crush the garlic clove. Spray a fraying pan with non-stick spray, and sauté the onion, garlic and celery until onion is translucent. Add the sage. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and fill the loaf pan with the mixture. Press down. Bake 30 minutes cov-ered, 10 minutes uncovered. Let stand for 5-10 minutes be-fore cutting and serving. Top with vegan gravy and enjoy!

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You can now receive this newsletter via e-mail or download it from the FVA website. To go paperless please email fvaonline@yahoo.com and let us know. You will not only help the environment, but will allow FVA more financial resources to help animals.

YES, I want to support Florida Voices for Animals, Inc. Enclosed is my annual membership fee or donation:

□ $250 Lifetime □ $50 Patron □ $25 Family □ $15 Individual □ $10 Student □_____ Other NAME: _________________________________ PHONE: _____________ FAX: _____________ ADDRESS: _____________________________ CITY: ______________ST: ___ ZIP: _________ E-mail: __________________________________________________________________________ I would like to volunteer for: □ Phone Tree □ Attending Demonstrations □ Staffing Outreach Tables □ Volunteer in the Office

□ Animal Rescue □ Investigations □ Other:____________________________________________ I prefer to receive my Newsletters: □ Electronically via e-mail □ Regular Mail

GOOD NEWS ☺Your Voice Does Matter! In August, New Port Richey City Council listened to more than 20 residents speak out against proposed controversial new animal control ordinances,. One would limit citizens to only 3-pets per household. Another would ban feeding hun-gry stray & Feral cats and dogs in an effort to starve them out to limit their numbers. Ultimately the council members made the compassionate decision to drop the two contro-versial ordinances. Thank you everyone that showed up and spoke on behalf of the animals of New Port Richey.

☺West Palm is for the Birds! On August 27th, the West Palm Beach city council became the seventh city to pass a resolution condemning battery cage confinement. If you want to work together to get your city as the next town on the list, please contact Alyson Bodai with the Humane Society.

abodai@hsus.org ☺ Greyhounds Saved With the closing of the Melbourne Race Track in July, over 200 dogs were in dan-ger of immediate death. Within a matter of only days, ALL the dogs were placed in foster homes and spared their lives. It is such a relief to know so many people opened their homes and hearts to these gentle creatures. ☺Tampa Greyhound Track Ends Live Racing ☺eBay Bans Trade of Ivory

BAD NEWS Crist Appoints Trophy Hunters and Devel-opers to Wildlife Commission TALLAHASSEE (Aug. 8, 2007) Gov. Charlie Crist’s three appointments this week to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show a favoritism to trophy hunting and development interests. As a result, The Hu-mane Society of the United States (HSUS) implores the governor to provide balance to this important public body with future appointments. Please contact Governor Christ to voice your opinions. 850-488-7146 or www.flgov.com/gov_contact

A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE." REGISTRATION #: CH4327

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Our mission is to educate the public about animal abuse and exploitation. Please renew your membership if it has expired. Check your label. M Paid membership and renewal date L Lifetime member X Newsletter exchange C Courtesy

FLORIDA VOICES FOR ANIMALS, INC. P.O. BOX 17523 TAMPA, FL 33682

A NON-PROFIT, TAX-EXEMPT, GRASSROOTS, ANIMAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID

TAMPA FL PERMIT NO. 2538

Weekly - Adopt-A-College Leafleting - will start again in the Fall Semester. Contact jodi@vegtampabay.com or visit www.AnimalRights.Meetup.com/157/events to help. =============================== 10/13 (Sat) – ACT Stride For Strays - Tabling Event 9am-noon. Al Lopez Park Tampa , FL 33614.Contact jodi@vegtampabay.com to volunteer. 10/20 (Sat) – SPCA Pet Walk St Peters-burg - Tabling Event 9am-1pm. North Shore Park Tampa , FL 33618 Contact jodi@vegtampabay.com to volunteer.

10/26 (Fri) UCF Leafleting Opportunity Join Jodi & Dean in Orlando for a day of leafleting at UCF. Contact jodi@vegtampabay.com for info.

10/27 (Sat) – Central Florida Veg Fest in Orlando! 10am-6pm Loch Haven Park 900 East Rollins Avenue Orlando , FL

32803. Speakers, Music, Veg Food & Fun! Visit http://cfvegfest.org for more info. 10/27 (Sat) Vegan Playgroup 4-6pm Let-tuce Lake Park on Fletcher, potluck & pic-nic. RSVP mparham2@tampabay.rr.com 10/27 (Sat) – Nutrition Smart Health Food Store Fundraiser for FVA 9am-9pm, 14847 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, 33618 Request at checkout that 10% of your purchase total be donated to FVA. =============================== 11/10 (Sat) – Tampa Vegan Meetup Din-ner 5pm-7:30pm. Trang Viet Cuisine 1524 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 813-979-1464 ~ New Buffet Option! RSVP with Michelle 813-365-0317

11/17 (Sat) –FVA Yard Sale 8am-1pm. Buggica residence 7212 N. Habana, Tampa, FL 33614 . Sale items needed.

11/17 (Sat) –E-fest Sarasota - Tabling Opportunity 10am-6pm. Sarasota Polo Club 8201 Polo Club Ln, FL 34240 www.efest.us Contact jodi@vegtampabay.com to volunteer.

11/22 (Thurs) – 2nd Annual Tampa Ve-gan Thanksgiving 7pm. See page 1 for

details. 11/23 (Fri) Fur Free Friday - Anti Fur Demonstration. 10am-2pm at Westshore Mall near Saks Fifth Ave. Come in cos-tume if you have one! 11/24 (Sat) Vegan Playgroup see 10/27 for details. 11/24 (Sat) – Nutrition Smart 9am-9pm. (see 10/27 date for details) =============================== 12/08 (Sat) – Tampa Vegan Meetup Din-ner 5pm-7:30pm. (see 11/10 date for de-tails)

12/25 (Tues) – Have a Happy Cruelty-Free Holiday Season!! 12/29 (Sat) – Nutrition Smart 9am-9pm. (see 10/27 date for details) =============================== Please continually visit the following web-sites' calendars for updates and additions to this calendar of events: www.AnimalRights.Meetup.com/157/events www.FloridaVoicesForAnimals.org (Click on Calendar) www.VegTampaBay.com