Good morning!

You know when you find something of interest on the net, and you just keep clicking links and going deeper into a subject, sometimes changing your focus altogether to something drastically different? I’ve been doing that this morning. I started off with Mitt Romney, (Ugh! not on a Sunday!)   meandered my way through a website called “Girls Gone Green”…interesting but not for today, and landed in a place that said “Yes, this is what I am going to blog today”.

I don’t know what it is, but lately I am drawn to the beauty of the beast. The beast being the Elephant.

Last November Ringling Brothers circus, a circus in my opinion that should be put to rest because of the abusive treatment of their animals, animals that are their money makers, will pay a $270,000 fine for allegedly violating the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). It’s about time. Every year this circus goes on the road and every year I get calls to head to the Oakland Coliseum in protest. Now finally something is being done.

Ringling Brothers Agree To USDA Fine For Allegedly Violating Animal Welfare Act

Life’s no circus for the Ringling Brothers these days.

The USDA announced Monday that an agreement was reached where Feld Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Feld), will pay a $270,000 fine for allegedly violating the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).

According to a USDA press release, Feld also agreed to “develop and implement annual AWA compliance training for all employees who work with and handle animals, including trainers, handlers, attendants and veterinarians starting March 31, 2012, and to establish an AWA compliance position on its staff by February 28, 2012.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement, “The civil penalty and other stipulations in the settlement agreement will promote a better understanding of the rights and responsibilities of all exhibitors in maintaining and caring for animals under their care.”

According to the Associated Press, Feld Entertainment does not admit to violating the law. CEO Kenneth Feld said in a statement, “We look forward to working with the USDA in a cooperative and transparent manner that meets our shared goal of ensuring that our animals are healthy and receive the highest quality care.”

Actress Olivia Munn recently blogged for HuffPost about Sarah, a 54-year-old elephant with a chronic infection, forced to perform with Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus despite recently collapsing. Munn wrote, “An elephant who reaches out her trunk to another in friendship or for comfort is punished with a whack of a bullhook — a heavy baton with a sharp point and hook on the end — the ubiquitous device used by Ringling to keep elephants fearful and compliant.”

According to a PETA website, “In the Ringling Bros. circus, elephants are beaten, hit, poked, prodded, and jabbed with sharp hooks, sometimes until bloody. Tigers are viciously struck with sticks so that they’ll perform difficult and confusing tricks.”

The blame doesn’t stop at the circus, though.

Mother Jones found in a year-long investigation that the USDA has conducted over a dozen investigations of Feld Entertainment, and yet regulators have not acted on their findings of abuse. A former head of the animal care unit in the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said that with a limited budget, the agency was unable to prosecute many cases.

PETA has been fighting Ringling Bros. for several years, complaining about the death of a baby elephant, the killing of a lion, and the beating of other elephants. The organization’s fight against the circus has gained support from Munn as well as other celebrities including Pink, Sarah Silverman and Cloris Leachman.

PETA wrote in a press statement, “The government has taken a first step, and now it must confiscate the elephants. What remains to be done is for the public to be made aware of this history of abuse so that people will know to keep their children away from the circus.”

Earlier this month, former game show host Bob Barker went to Capitol Hill to advocate for the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act, a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the use of exotic animals in traveling shows. Barker told HuffPost, “I’d like to see Ringling Brothers closed … It’s all animal exploitation. It’s heartbreaking.”

Elephant abuse isn’t contained to circus environments. Earlier this year, reports and video footage allegedly showed that the elephant featured in “Water For Elephants” was abused while training for movies. The video claims to reveal elephants being beaten with bull hooks and receiving electric shocks.

Even as Feld is paying its fine, some wonder — Are entertainment-seeking humans partially to blame for funding the abuse?

WATCH a PETA undercover investigation:

Readers: Yes, to answer the above question, we are to blame if we attend circuses such as this one. I can barely watch the video, the abuse that these precious animals have to endure at the hands of these thugs with bullhooks and whips is unbearable. I look over at Lucy, my beloved dog, and give her a big hug, thinking how lucky she is to be so well taken care of.  And yet it shouldn’t be “luck”, it should be a natural living “right” for all animals.

Okay, I lied. I said that I wasn’t going to blog about “Girls Gone Green”, but I found myself back there and this is what I found. A beautifully made video showing the cruel and barbaric treatment of circus animals.

If you are not nearby, please help us fight circus cruelty on a national level by contacting your government reps about H.R. 3359: The Traveling Exotic Animals Protection Act. You can use the link about to find your Representatives or Senators, or you can send an automated message already filled out for you by Break The Chain – but remember, the message is stronger when it contains your own words! Speak straight from your heart.

Please watch the video below to hear Jacksonville residents and Girls Gone Green members speaking passionately to the City Council to call for a ban  of Ringling Bros. from our city. You will also see in the video why they are speaking up for these tortured individuals.

Please do not support Ringling Brothers. Please support HR 3359 for the animals. Thank you.

*******

Christine Elizabeth: My pleasure, and nor I. Thank you for the birthday wishes!

Got to run…

Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

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Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

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Good morning!

Elephants are at risk like many other animals that call Earth home. Last night 60 minutes had a special called As you know, animals live very close to my heart. Yet it is hard to give time to all my passions…all the things that I care about. I have said it before, and it is always worth saying again. If we just focus on one thing to hep make lives better, whether it be improving the recycling system for the love of the environment,  helping impoverished or abused women get back into the work force, or help in saving elephants, a magnificent mammal from being killed for their precious ivory tusks…and give that one thing a few hours a week, how different our would would be.

Elephants Increasingly At Risk Of Extinction, Group Says

JOHANNESBURG — Large seizures of elephant tusks make this year the worst on record since ivory sales were banned in 1989, with recent estimates suggesting as many as 3,000 elephants were killed by poachers, experts said Thursday.

“2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” said Tom Milliken, elephant and rhino expert for the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

In one case earlier this month, Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks worth $1.3 million that were being shipped to Cambodia. The ivory was hidden in containers of Kenyan handicrafts.

“In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data … this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures,” said Milliken.

Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value.

TRAFFIC said Asian crime syndicates are increasingly involved in poaching and the illegal ivory trade across Africa, a trend that coincides with growing Asian investment on the continent.

“The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies,” Milliken said in a telephone interview from his base in Zimbabwe. “There are more Asians than ever before in the history of the continent, and this is one of the repercussions.”

Some of the seized tusks came from old stockpiles, the elephants having been killed years ago.

But the International Fund for Animal Welfare said recent estimates suggest more than 3,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory in the past year alone.

“Reports from Central Africa are particularly alarming and suggest that if current levels of poaching are sustained, some countries, such as Chad, could potentially lose their elephant populations in the very near future,” said Jason Bell, director of the elephant program for the fund based in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts

He said poaching also had reached “alarming levels” in Congo, northern Kenya, southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.

Milliken thinks criminals may have the upper hand in the war to save rare and endangered animals.

“As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning,” Milliken said.

All statistics are not yet in, and no one can say how much ivory is getting through undetected, But TRAFFIC said it is clear there’s been a “dramatic increase” this year in the number of large-scale seizures – those over 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) in weight.

There were at least 13 large seizures this year, compared to six in 2010 with a total weight just under 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).

In Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve alone, some 50 elephants a month are being killed and their tusks hacked off, according to the Washington-based Environmental Investigation Agency.

With shipments so large, criminals have taken to shipping them by sea instead of by air, falsifying documents with the help of corrupt officials, monitors said.

In another sign of corruption, Milliken said some of the seized ivory has been identified as coming from government-owned stockpiles – made up of both confiscated tusks and those from dead elephants.

Rhinos also have suffered: A record 443 rhino were killed this year in South Africa, according to National Geographic News Watch. That surpassed last year’s figure of 333 dead rhino despite the government deploying soldiers to protect the endangered animals this year in its flagship Kruger National Park.

National Geographic reported this week that 244 of the rhino killed this year were poached in Kruger, and that figure is expected to rise before the end of the month.

South Africa is home to 90 percent of the rhinos left on the continent, and Kruger has more than 10,000 white rhinos and about 500 black rhinos.

Africa’s elephant population was estimated at between 5 million and 10 million before white hunters came to the continent with European colonization. Massive poaching for the ivory trade in the 1980s halved the remaining number of African elephants to about 600,000.

Following the 1989 ban on ivory trade and concerted international efforts to protect the animals, elephant herds in east and southern Africa were thriving before the new threat arrived from Asia.

A report from Kenya’s Amboseli National Park highlighted the dangers. There had been almost no poaching for 30 years in the park, which lies in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro until a Chinese company was awarded the contract to build a highway nearby two years ago. Amboseli has lost at least four of its “big tuskers” since then.

*********

Readers: What passion is personal to you that pulls you to do the things you do?  If it is Elephants, do something – don’t let the extinction of the Elephant be “the Elephant in the room”.

Blog me.

Zen Lill: I finally got around to watching that TED video on SOPA/PIPA – thank you.  As you can see from my new banner, I am all for stopping SOPA and ceasing censorship.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

Before your minds get dirty on me, and I can see from the 99 comments (Woo Hoo! – that’s a record!) this morning that amongst all of the hot topics, the ending topic was of course “SEX”. :) Keep reading…It’s not what you think.

Everyone knows I am a huge animal lover and dogs are my choice for a domestic pet. But when I read starting reading the writes about Romney and his “Let’s-tie-the-dog-to-the-roof-and-take-a-12-hour-road-trip”, I just had to blog about it. (Thanks Caroline and Ursla for broaching the topic. You know I have to talk my two about this.)

I read this story on the internet written in 2007 during the 2008 campaigning, but I do not remember seeing it then or I would’ve blogged about it then. It looks like it is getting plenty of media time again and rightly so in my opinion.

Does it bother you that Romney put his dog in a kennel and tied it to the roof of his car? It does more than bother me. I find it to be simply cruel, inhuman, and lacking empathy, not to mention it is against Massachusetts law:

Massachusetts law prohibits carrying an animal “in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon.”

But as you know Romney didn’t get arrested for it, nor did he get a fine of any sort that I am aware of.

And I don’t care if he provided a “wind shield” – The dog is isolated and vulnerable to the wind, the speed, not to mention that it was so very stressful for his dog Seamus, that the dog lost control of his bowels! If Romney didn’t know that the dog was stressed out during the ride, the diarrhea running down the back window of the car should’ve of been a clue!

But no, Romney pulls off at an “unplanned stop”, hoses the dog off, sticks him back up on the roof and continues on the drive. And from what I have heard on Snopes, he “made it clear to his five sons in the car that bathroom breaks would only be taken at predetermined breaks to gas the car” – Wha’at?! – If he’s not going to make an “unplanned stop” to let one of his sons relieve himself, don’t plan on him caring much about the dog. And we can see that he didn’t.

Here’s a recent write:

Mitt Romney Admits He Tied Family Dog To The Roof of His Car [Video]

When Mitt Romney tied the family dog on the roof of his car in an airtight container then drove for 12 hours to Canada, he had no idea it would come back 20 years later to piss off animal lovers around the country.

But piss them off it has.  In an interview with Fox News Romney, the front runner for the Republican nomination for President, admitted that he did it, and even more claimed that the dog really liked it.

He was confronted by the interviewer who said that in Romney’s own home state of Massachusetts the law is that you cannot (even in an airtight container) put your dog on the roof of a moving vehicle because it is considered inhumane.

Romney did keep his cool in the interview, and kept going back to his stock answer of “The dog enjoyed it, he wanted to be there, he got in willingly”

As you can see from the interview, the strangest part is when Romney tells the interviewer that the Kennel on top of the car was AIRTIGHT as if it is a good thing!

There has not been a huge backlash against Romney for the act (it was more than 20 years ago) but this week a protester in South Carolina strapped a stuffed dog to the roof of his car and hung a sign on the side of it saying “Dogs Against Romney”

What do you think about Romney tying his dog to the roof of his car for a twelve hour drive?

Watch the interview:

*L*S*O*S*

Readers: Romney justifies his actions by saying the dog got in willingly.

“He scrambled up there every time we went on trips,” Romney said. “He got [up] all by himself and enjoyed it.”

What an idiot.

And don’t you just love that Romney claims back in 2007 that “They’re (the critics) not happy that my dog likes fresh air”, and yet in this video he says that the container was “airtight”. (Again, like “airtight” is a good thing) Get your stories straight Romney – is your dog getting air or is he not?

An idiot, and a Lying Sack Of Shit. He belongs in the LSOS Club. Oops, forgot, he already qualified for membership.

Thoughts? Blog me.

Howie: Thanks. As always, I look forward to more.

ZL: Thanks. I liked it when I read it, and decided to adopt it for myself. :)

Mike: I agree with you. Can you imagine how lax our police force would be if the knowledge of aliens living amongst us or flying above us was out in the open? If it wasn’t obvious who the perpetrator was, they would most likely blame crimes on the aliens and do little if any investigation.  In fact they would probably get so lazy, and blame everything on the aliens…crimes, murders etc., that nothing would get done and criminals would have a field day, everyday, with very little convictions made.

Al: Good memory –  you are correct. It seems some people don’t learn. It was racist then and it still is.

Anna of Guam: Done. Senator Blas of Guam is now a member of the LSOS Club.

Ida: So well said!

Debra: That is one of the most ridiculous quotes I have ever heard.

Keep commenting –  Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

“ Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox“

 October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Once again I am sickened by human behavior…male human behavior. We have a convicted animal abuser, Terry Thompson, housing over 56 exotic animals at his farm in Ohio, coupled with Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich, who got lazy…or just didn’t care, and  allowed a statewide ban on the buying and selling of exotic pets to expire in April. The result:  Thompson who lived with the stress of a strained marriage and the expense of caring for so many animals, who claimed that he was a huge animal lover, decided on Tuesday to release the animals that he claims he so loved, and turned a gun on himself, ending his life.

What a gutless wonder. I could care less if you want to kill yourself but at least leave the animals be, so that people who really do care can take care of them. Instead, 48 beautiful exotic animals were shot to death. So far 6 have been captured and are being taken care of. My first response was, “Why did they kill them?! Why didn’t they just use a tranquilizer dart?” I have read several articles that states there was not enough day light left in the day, and their fear was that if the animals were tranquilized and didn’t “drop before dark”, they may not find them before they regained consciousness again. That may be true, but I still think killing them was wrong; I am having a very difficult time with their unnecessary deaths.

Ohio has been aware of Thompson and his animals for a decade.  This was an incident waiting to happen and unfortunately before anyone took the time, and cared enough to do something, the animals in the end paid the price.

Here’s the write: 

Exotic Animal Rules Debated In Zanesville, Ohio After Killings

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Amid expressions of horror and revulsion at the killing of dozens of wild animals in Ohio – and photographs of their bloody carcasses – animal rights advocates agreed there was little local authorities could have done to save the dangerous creatures once they began roaming the countryside after their owner released them before taking his own life.

Sheriff’s deputies shot 48 animals – including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions – after Terry Thompson, owner of the private Muskingum County Animal Farm near Zanesville, threw their cages open Tuesday and then committed suicide.

“What a tragedy,” said veterinarian Barb Wolfe, of The Wilds animal preserve sponsored by the Columbus Zoo. “We knew that … there were so many dangerous animals at this place that eventually something bad would happen, but I don’t think anybody really knew it would be this bad.”

As the hunt winded down on Wednesday, a photo showing the remains of tigers, bears and lions lined up and scattered in an open field went viral provoking visceral reactions among viewers, some of whom expressed their anger and sadness on social networking sites.

Some local townspeople also were saddened by the deaths. At a nearby Moose Lodge, Bill Weiser said: “It’s breaking my heart, them shooting those animals.”

Authorities said the slain animals would be buried on Thompson’s farm.

Will Travers, chief executive of the California-based Born Free USA animal welfare and wildlife conservation organization, said police had no choice but to take the action they did.

“It’s a tragedy for these particular animals, for no fault of their own they’ve been shot, and I can see how difficult that decision was for the police,” he said.

Jack Hanna, TV personality and former director of the Columbus Zoo, also defended the sheriff’s decision to kill the animals, calling deaths of the endangered Bengal tigers especially tragic.

The animals destroyed also included six black bears, two grizzlies, a baboon, a wolf and three mountain lions. “It’s like Noah’s Ark wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio,” Hanna said.

Six – three leopards, a grizzly bear and two monkeys – were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. “We are happy to report they all seem to be doing very well,” zoo spokeswoman Patti Peters said in a statement Thursday.

A wolf was later found dead, leaving a monkey as the only animal possibly still unaccounted for in the mostly rural community of farms, widely spaced homes and wooded areas about 55 miles east of Columbus.

While the sheriff’s office said early Thursday that the search for the monkey was still active, Sheriff Matt Lutz said the animal may no longer be a concern. “We have had no reported sightings of anything, and it’s a high probability that he could have been eaten by one of the big cats,” Lutz told the CBS “Early Show” on Thursday.

Officers were ordered to kill the animals instead of trying to bring them down with tranquilizers for fear that those hit with darts would escape in the darkness before they dropped and would later regain consciousness.

“There were so many animals running at large that I made the decision that we were not going to have wild animals running loose on our streets,” Lutz told CBS. “There was no way of telling which animals would lay down, where these animals would end up.”

Veterinarian Wolfe had tried to save a tiger in a heavy bramble by using a tranquilizer dart, but the animal charged her then tried to flee. It had to be shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies.

“I was about 15 feet from him and took a shot, and it didn’t respond too much, and I thought we were OK, but within about 10 seconds he roared and started toward me,” she said.

Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Merry, among the first to respond on Tuesday, said he shot a number of animals, including a gray wolf and a black bear who charged him from 7 feet away. He said he’s an animal lover and only took pride in knowing he was protecting the community.

“All these animals have the ability to take a human out in the length of a second,” he said.

The Humane Society of the United States criticized Gov. John Kasich for allowing a statewide ban on the buying and selling of exotic pets to expire in April and called for an emergency rule to crack down on exotic animals until the state comes up with a permanent legal solution.

“Every month brings a new, bizarre, almost surreal incident involving privately-held, dangerous wild animals,” Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society, said in a statement. “In recent years, Ohioans have died and suffered injuries. … Owners of large, exotic animals are a menace to society, and it’s time for the delaying on the rulemaking to end.”

Activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also called for emergency regulations and pointed the finger at Gov. John Kasich, saying the incident should serve as his “wake-up call.”

“Surely, after this latest incident, enough blood has been shed for the state to take action,” the group said in a statement.

Ohio has some of the nation’s weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

Born Free USA says it has tracked 1,500 attacks on humans or other animals, and escapes by exotic animals since 1990, with 86 being in Ohio. Travers said there’s an urgent need for legislation that addresses the competency of Ohioans seeking to own exotic pets and owners’ ability to provide for the animals’ welfare as well as public safety.

“Legislation should be there to protect the animals from the people and to protect the people from the animals,” he said.

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said Wednesday the governor had called on Lutz to commend the job he had done and to ask him to be part of the process of putting into law what the executive order failed to do.

“Clearly, we need tougher laws. We haven’t had them in this state. Nobody’s dealt with this, and we will. And we’ll deal with it in a comprehensive way,” Kasich said earlier in the day at a meeting of Dix Communications editors at which The Associated Press was present.

The Ohio Veterinary Medical Association also called for exotic animal regulations. U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland called the deaths of the escaped animals preventable.

“By enacting more stringent restrictions on owning exotic pets in Ohio, tragedies like this one can be avoided in the future,” he said in a statement.

Thompson, 62, had had repeated run-ins with the law and his neighbors. Lutz said that the sheriff’s office had received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals escaping onto neighbors’ property. The sheriff’s office also said that Thompson had been charged over the years with animal cruelty, animal neglect and allowing animals to roam.

He had gotten out of federal prison just last month after serving a year for possessing unregistered guns.

Thompson had rescued some of the animals at his preserve and purchased many others, said Columbus Zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters.

It was not immediately clear how Thompson managed to support the preserve and for what purpose it was operated, since it was not open to the public. But Thompson had appeared on the “Rachael Ray Show” in 2008 as an animal handler for a zoologist guest, said show spokeswoman Lauren Nowell.

___

Associated Press writers Ann Sanner, Julie Carr Smyth, JoAnne Viviano and Doug Whiteman in Columbus contributed to this report.

*******

Readers: Oh and one more animal was killed. Not exotic in the least, but this one certainly deserved to die: Gaddafi.

What say you? Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

I post so many horrific things that people do to each other, animals, the environment…but I am reminded time and time again that there are amazing people too on this planet who do amazing things.

As a little girl, Dyan DeNapoli, wondered what she as one person could do, to make a difference in the lives of the fellow creatures that she loved.

Here’s what she did with her passion for Penguins:

Readers: To see a beautiful film on this treasure oil spill rescue, click here. Love Penguins? Want to be part of their lives in a profound way? Click here.

I say this always…but if each one of us took a little more time doing something good strictly out of our love, the world would change. And I post these not only to highlight the great successes of women, but because I never know what I might post that moves someone to explore their passions, and become the next Wonderful Woman Of The World.

So…What moves you? Blog me.

Peace & Love….

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

“ Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox“