HEAL: Fighting for Teen Liberty, Prison Reform, Human Rights, Environment, Sustainability, and Animal Welfare!

HEAL acknowledges and celebrates all sentient beings, human and non-human alike. We believe that nonhuman animals should be free from cruelty and confinement. We accept the principles of the "circle of life" philosophy and believe that all life lives by taking life or the potential for life. We acknowledge that nature is out of balance and that humans and non-humans alike are suffering as a result. We do not dictate, encourage or manipulate our members or our community into vegetarian/vegan living. We believe all life has value and that all living things require nutrients taken from other living things. We would never shame a dog or a crow for eating flesh or scavenging. Nor would we shame a human being for doing so. We do encourage everyone to live waste-free. Whether you consider yourself an herbivore or omnivore, please do your very best to keep your garbage/waste to a minimum.

We accept that vivisection is a money-making scheme that needlessly tortures billions of nonhuman animals to provide added liability insurance for pharmaceutical companies who will and do test their products on cold-blooded reptiles just to get the results needed to get the next damaging and deadly drug in to the consumer market. This is why HEAL does actively work to expose the fraud and harm of animal experimentation!

The University of Washington must offer standard animal-free alternatives in all classes requiring dissection of nonhuman animals. As a public university, the UW has a special responsibility to its students, as well as state and national taxpayers, to abide by the U.S. Constitution, including the first amendment, which, guarantees freedom of religion. While dissection is a heatedly debated and controversial issue, it must be concluded to be reasonable that those students who oppose it on ethical and/or religious grounds should be given an animal-free option in courses that require dissection.

Many universities have already made the needed changes in efforts to respect diversity and embrace new technologies. Universities that offer alternatives include the University of California, University of Illinois, University of Virginia, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins Medical School. The alternatives to dissection available today include plastic models of dissected animals that students can take apart, virtual dissection software, and three-dimensional films. The University of California and the University of Virginia currently offer online virtual dissections as an alternative.

Finally, Freedom of Religion is a right under the first amendment. Many orthodox religions, including Judaism, find touching or dealings with dead animals "unclean" and therefore cannot fulfill such requirements, as dissection, due to their religious tenets. Because the University of Washington is a "public" (as opposed to private) school, they have an obligation to respect and accommodate students who are religiously opposed to participating in dissection. Students are being forced to choose career over morality in many cases, which, sets an unpreferable standard for behavior in the "real world." Since this choice is unnecessary, it begs questioning (which we have done) the University. As said previously, other universities offer a standard option for students who oppose the use of nonhuman animals. Since other accredited public and private universities are offering standard alternatives to dissection and/or not using dissection at all, it is only rational that the University of Washington would be willing to give their students the same alternatives. By not offering standard alternatives they are bending the will of many less vocal students to submit to their system or forget their career goals. That isn't fair. And, in our opinion, is a violation of the highest principle of human rights, that of free will.

HEAL BOOK PROJECT

HEAL has created an online store at http://www.cafepress.com/heal. Also, we are planning to put together a book of art, short stories, poems, and essays regarding human liberation, earth liberation, and animal liberation to sell through this shop. Art includes photography and political/social commentary cartoons. If you would like to submit your work for consideration in the project, please bring it to a HEAL meeting (schedule online at http://www.heal-online.org/events.htm), submit it online to info@heal-online.org, or mail it to us at HEAL, 126 SW 148th St, Ste C100-422, Seattle, WA 98166-1984. The rewards for contributing items to this project are: helping to educate others about global liberation, having your work published, and a $10 reward for selected items (which you can choose to waive and donate to HEAL). You keep the rights to your material. We only ask that you include with all submissions a letter or e-mail to the effect that you are permitting HEAL to use your work and the work's title.

HEAL is no longer able to keep up with all outside action alerts. We are now only updating those action alert lists for human rights campaigns, including Teen Liberty and Prison Reform. We have listed below animal rights action alert websites that you can visit to take action for animals! Thank you for standing up against cruelty! If you would like to suggest an animal rights action alert website to us, please click here.

Ask President Obama to Make Animal Welfare a Priority!--Did you know that there are 18 different agencies that oversee animal welfare? That's why The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund are asking the Obama Administration to appoint an Animal Protection Liaison in the White House -- someone who would work with the agencies and Congress to advance animal protection policies in an ongoing and sustained way. We have a goal of 50,000 signatures. Please sign the petition

Save Washington's Animals!--Many of you have contacted us with concerns over the recent announcement by interim King County Executive Kurt Triplett that he intends to eliminate the budget for King County Animal Care and Control (“KCACC”) in 2010, as well as with confusion over a new campaign to “Save KCACC.” We write to clarify our position on these issues, and to ask that you consider carefully before you join any campaign that advocates for an agency, rather than for the animals.

First, let us take the opportunity to thank you for what you do for the animals of this region. You are on the front lines of the animal rescue effort in our community, and we know that the work you do is often very difficult. We have worked for both large animal welfare organizations and small community rescues, as well as volunteering in animal shelters and as foster parents. We know that the work that each of you does is vital to the community's effort to save homeless pets, and you cannot be thanked often enough.

KCACC has been at the center of almost constant controversy for more than two years. We first became involved in this controversy as members of the KCACC Citizens' Advisory Committee in July 2007, and then as the co-founders of KCACC Exposed (www.KCACCExposed.org) in September 2008. Along with many of you, we are greatly saddened that King County's elected officials have not yet found a solution to the problems that have plagued KCACC for so long.

We have been openly critical of KCACC and its failure to enact basic reforms to humanely care for the animals in its custody, develop community partnerships, competently conduct animal cruelty and neglect investigations, and provide adequate animal control services. Our criticisms have been echoed by the 2007 report of the KCACC Citizens’ Advisory Committee and two 2008 reports by independent experts who investigated KCACC's operations. We expect that these continued concerns will be validated by an upcoming report by the King County Auditor, expected sometime this fall.

Over the past two years, we have advocated a variety of possible solutions to KCACC's problems. These have included pushing for fundamental reform at KCACC, exploring the possibility of contracting for animal sheltering with an area non-profit organization that could provide the animals with better care, and asking that the investigation of crimes such as animal cruelty be transferred to qualified law enforcement officers. However, we should make clear that we do not advocate, and have never advocated, the cessation of animal care and control services in King County. Such a result would clearly be a tragedy for the animals of the county. When Mr. Triplett made this proposal last month, we immediately spoke out against it, and were relieved when he soon backed away from his statement. (Please read our Blog on this issue at http://www.kcaccexposed.org/Blogs.aspx?ID=100126.)

Despite the fact that Mr. Triplett's proposal was quickly withdrawn, certain KCACC officers have sought to capitalize on the fear and uncertainty created by his announcement to demand that “KCACC” be “saved,” and are trying to organize a rally tomorrow to convey this message. This demand follows in the footsteps of two years worth of efforts by the Guild representing the KCACC officers to preserve KCACC (and the Guild jobs) no matter what the cost to the animals or the taxpayers. In pursuing this single-minded goal, Guild leadership has threatened King County with litigation should it seek to find a more humane and efficient way to provide animal services, and has engaged in a campaign to intimidate and slander KCACC’s critics and induce fear in the animal lovers of King County.

By contrast, we do not advocate for any particular agency. We advocate for the animals. We realize that because of certain limitations, King County may be forced to continue to provide at least some of its animal services through KCACC. If that is the case, we will continue to advocate for fundamental and lasting reforms at KCACC, as well as adequate funding, so that it can fulfill its moral responsibilities to both the animals and the people of this county. On the other hand, we know that KCACC has structural and cultural obstacles that will be difficult for it to overcome, so we hope that the elected officials of this county will continue to explore a better– more humane, more efficient, more responsible – way to provide animal care and control services. This may be through transferring some animal services to a different agency within the county, and by contracting for some services with a qualified non-profit (or non-profits) with a proven track record of providing humane care.

The county is now facing a time of great uncertainty, brought about by looming budget deficits, the upcoming election of a new county executive, and the threat of flooding from the Green River, which will likely force KCACC to close its Kent shelter this fall. If KCACC continues to exist, there is a significant danger that its services will be greatly curtailed as a result of the possible flood, its lack of alternate shelter facilities, and county budget constraints. Thus, a more creative solution may be necessary to preserve even current levels of services for the animals and the people of King County.

In this time of uncertainty, we believe that we can all join together in demanding that the King County Council and the King County Executive ensure that the homeless animals of King County have a shelter that provides them with humane care, and the best possible opportunity to be placed in new homes.

Therefore, we ask you to join us in conveying a message to our county officials that focuses on the animals, not the agency. Demand humane care. Demand thorough animal cruelty and neglect investigations. Demand animal control services to keep our communities safe. Demand adequate funding. But please , do not be persuaded to demand that King County “save” a particular agency, when the best result for the animals may very well lay in a more progressive solution.

We will continue to cover developments related to this issue on our website, www.KCACCExposed.org. In addition, please feel free to contact either one of us directly with your questions or concerns, at the email addresses listed below.

For the animals –

Kim Sgro (ksgro@aol.com)

Claire Davis (cldavis@wsgr.com)

Co-Chairs, KCACC Exposed

If you wish to contact the King County Council and King County Executive t o voice your concerns about the animals of King County, you may use the following email addresses:

King County Council:

bob.ferguson@kingcounty.gov; larry.gossett@kingcounty.gov; kathy.lambert@kingcounty.gov; larry.phillips@kingcounty.gov; julia.patterson@kingcounty.gov; jane.hague@kingcounty.gov; pete.vonreichbauer@kingcounty.gov; dow.constantine@kingcoun ty.gov; reagan.dunn@kingcounty.gov; marilyn.cope@kingcounty.gov; jennifer.giambattista@kingcounty.gov; tom.bristow@kingcounty.gov

King County Executive: kcexec@kingcounty.gov

Jim Maddy, President and CEO
Association of Zoos & Aquariums
8403 Colesville Road, Suite 710
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3314
(P) 301-562-0777 X222
(F) 301-562-0888
(E) jmaddy@aza.org

Also write to the zoo in your community and request that it adopt a policy condemning the use of elephants in circuses and other entertainment venues. Find zoo contact information here.

Tell USDA "No More Factory Farms"!--Small farmers across the country are struggling to make ends meet, yet the USDA is helping new factory farms come on line by encouraging banks to give them guaranteed loans. Family farm groups from across the country are calling on the USDA to stop backing new factory farms. Can you take action to stop new factory farms?

Ask the USDA to take the Elephants Away from Ringling Brothers Immediately--In 2009, PETA went undercover at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and captured Ringling workers on video as they beat and whipped elephants dozens of times in venues across the country. Video shows Ringling Bros. abusing animals http://tinyurl.com/m5x28k The 11 elephants used in the show—most of whom were captured in the wilds of Asia as early as 1957 and some of whom have spent more than 40 years with the circus—suffer month after month at the hands of Ringling and its crew. PETA documented workers as they struck elephants and tigers on the head, face, ears, trunk, legs, and other parts of their bodies with bullhooks and other abusive handling tools. Take Action: PETA has filed a formal complaint with the USDA, but officials also need to hear from you. Write to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack and demand that the agency seize the elephants whom from Ringling. http://tinyurl.com/m9yv24

Ask Breast Cancer Charities to Use Nonanimal Research Methods--Your help is needed in contacting each of the individuals listed in the Action Alert link. In your own words, politely express your concern that they are conducting cruel and ineffective animal research that has not identified the causes of breast cancer or an effective treatment. Ask that they follow the lead of other organizations that conduct ethical and effective, human-centered research. http://tinyurl.com/ng6bj3 (pcrm action alert)

Take Action to Protect Elephants!--IDA is deeply saddened to report that the elephant Ned, who was confiscated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November 2008 and sent to The Elephant Sanctuary thanks to the diligence of IDA, has passed away. Ned's sad life was filled with abuse and suffering, but in his last six months he finally experienced love, caring and trust. Despite the sanctuary's heroic efforts to heal Ned, his body appears to have been too damaged from his years of abuse. Only 21 years old, Ned left us far too soon. Amazingly, he died just 12 hours after the passing of Bunny, another of the sanctuary’s elephants and the first to die from natural causes related to old age. Ned’s passing is a tragic reminder of the inaction of the USDA, which waited until Ned was at death's door before confiscating him. Our staff will work hard in Ned's memory to force the USDA to fulfill its mandate to uphold our nation's animal welfare laws before it is too late for Tina, Jewel, Queenie, Val and other elephants who are victims of abuse at the hands of the circus and zoo industries. Email Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and demand that his agency start to enforce the Animal Welfare Act to protect elephants. The USDA must start by confiscating Jewel, Tina and Queenie and send them to an elephant sanctuary.

Take Action to Protect Grizzly Bears!--In the next few weeks, the U.S. Forest Service plans to reopen a road that runs through the heart of grizzly bear habitat in Wyoming's Sweetwater Valley. Please go to www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and urge the Forest Service to keep the road permanently closed.

Help End the Sale of Fur at Nordstrom--Nordstrom is a local, fourth generation family business that has a solid customer service reputation, and a name that evokes a sense of responsibility and success. Why then does the Nordstrom Family continue to sully its reputation with ties to the fur industry? Despite making a pledge in the 1990s that they would not sell fur, Nordstroms has gone back on its word and has had fur in their stores since 2001. Take Action Help Nordstrom make the right choice by boycotting their stores. Contact Nordstroms and tell them why you refuse to shop there until they remove all of the fur from their stores for good. Please keep your message polite, positive, and on point about the animal suffering. Let Nordstrom know that you will not be a customer again until they stop carrying all fur items.

Nordstrom Corporate Offices
President Blake Nordstrom
1700 Seventh Avenue, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98101
206-373-4331

For more information on what you can do, contact matt@idausa.org

Urge Congress to Include Vegetarian Options in School Lunches--Many school cafeterias serve greasy, unhealthy food. Bad food is unfair to the children that have no other lunch options and can risk their health over the long run. But now is the time for you to ask Congress for the healthy school lunches that children deserve. Take Action This petition urges Congress to include vegetarian and vegan options in school lunches. http://www.healthyschoollunches.org/wyntergrace/ Better yet, contact your Senators and Representatives and tell them that students deserve healthy foods—more vegetables, fruits, vegetarian foods, and healthful nondairy beverages. Find Your U.S. Representative here:
http://www.house.gov/ Find your U.S. Senators here: http://www.senate.gov/

Ask Coca-Cola to Enforce Their Animal Welfare Policies--As Shark ( http://www.sharkonline.org/ ) has discovered, Coca-Cola is a huge rodeo sponsor in spite of their corporate policy against supporting events where there is a risk of animals being injured. Currently, Coca-Cola is supporting animal abuse by sponsoring rodeos. They are starting to feel the pressure from animal advocates, so we need to keep contacting them. The animals need you to make your voice heard at Coca-Cola. Take Action Contact Coca-Cola and demand all of their bottlers and affiliates stop sponsoring rodeos and adhere to the company's official policy: "The Coca-Cola Company does not endorse or condone any practice of cruelty to animals, and the Company does not sponsor or promote events where there is a risk of physical harm to animals."

Muhtar Kent
President and CEO The Coca-Cola Company
P.O. Box 1734
Atlanta, GA 30301

Board of Directors The Coca-Cola Company
P.O. Box 1734
Atlanta, GA 30301
Phone: (770) 989-3000

Toll Free: (800) 438-2653 (GET-COKE)
Send an email through Coca-Cola's website:
http://tinyurl.com/cnndvo

The Seal Slaughter Has Begun - Take Action--Canada’s slaughter of baby seals has begun. The Canadian government will allow sealers to kill 338,200 seals this year. These defenseless animals have their skulls smashed in or are shot and then skinned for their fur. Please check out PETA's Action Alert for more information on what you can do http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/seal_hunt_09

Save the Wolves!--With the lives of nearly 1,000 wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies at stake, compassionate people like you are really stepping up to help save our wolves! Last week, dedicated supporters like you logged more than 6,700 calls to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protesting the Department of Interior’s deadly decision to eliminate vital federal protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana -- a decision that could lead to the slaughter of more than two-thirds of the region’s wolves. Now help us take our message to the top! Send an email to President Obama now and urge him to maintain Endangered Species Act protections for these wolves.

Take Action for Farm Animals!--Under the previous regulations, a case-by-case assessment was made of cattle that went down at the slaughterhouse after passing the pre-slaughter inspection. The loopholes encouraged slaughterhouse workers to get cattle to stand and walk on their own, dragging them by the ears and tails, prodding them with electric shocks, even dragging them with chains and pushing them with forklifts, because an animal deemed a downer meant a loss in profits. While the meat industry pushed to allow sick and non-ambulatory cattle to enter the food chain amid the mad-cow disease scare (a reality the country has yet to truly confront), and hung on during an exposé of a California slaughterhouse that led to the largest meat recall in U.S. history, the Obama Administration moved quickly to address some of our longstanding concerns. Since its inception, Farm Sanctuary has advocated an end to downed animal abuse and urged the USDA to ban their marketing. Our No Downers Campaign was founded in the belief that if downed animals are prevented from entering the food supply, producers would have less of an incentive to maintain the status quo of pushing these animals past their biological limits at any and all costs. Through the years that we have waged this campaign, we have worked for passage of the first laws in this country to end the marketing of downed animals, we have seen slaughterhouses and stockyards convicted of cruelty, and we have rescued and come to the aid of hundreds of downed animals. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said this new rule "is a step forward for both food safety and the standards for humane treatment of animals." Yet it is just a step and more steps are needed. The USDA needs to extend these same protections to all species—pigs, sheep, goats and other livestock who are disabled due to the intensity of factory farming and the push to maximize profits at the expense of living animals. Please take a few minutes to contact Secretary Vilsack, thank him for closing the loopholes for downed cattle, and urge him to expand the umbrella of protection to other animals.

Tell the Discovery Channel to Put a Leash on Man vs. Wild!--Visit http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations and tell the Discovery Channel that Bear Gryll's consistent torturing and eating of live animals on the show has to stop. A HEAL Supporter wrote: "Some time ago we have an opportunity to see Discovery Channel TV, and between others we can follow a “Man vs. Wild” TV show. That TV show is full of animal exploitation in a worst possible manner. It is not matter of taste, it is not about changing the channel. Every time when that evil man appears, he eats few animals, alive. Last night that passed all limits of tolerance. He killed, he has eaten alive a small lizard. Then he found a small scorpion, he detached its stickler by knife, he eaten the scorpion while it was still alive. After that he found a corpse of zebra killed by lions, he took a knife and cut a peaces of meat. Every TV show is like that. Not any respect toward animals, insects, that creatures which share this Planet with us was shown." Please write the Discovery Channel and ask them to reign in Mr. Gryll and stop the needless exploitation and torture of our fellow creatures. You can do this here: http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations

End Cruel Confinement Nationwide--California voters approved Prop 2 on Election Day 2008, banning battery cages, gestation crates and veal crates in their state. Please take action now to ask your state legislators to ban these cruel farm animal confinement systems in your home state.

Save the Leatherback Turtles!--Shhhh. Did you hear that? That was the sound of another species doomed with extinction. And that's the problem. There was no sound. No loud explosion. No sonic boom. No tremor that shakes the world when another beautiful creature goes extinct. Instead magnificent creatures like the leatherback turtle slip nearer to the edge in utter silence every 20 minutes. That's about 3 species every hour. 72 of Mother Nature's precious creatures each day. A devastating 500 a week and a world-changing 26,000 a year. In fact, right now the world's largest turtle and the second largest reptile on the planet, the leatherback, may be nothing more than a memory in a few decades if current rates of loss continue. We're talking about an incredible creature that has survived on this planet for more than 100,000,000 years. Yet populations of these sweethearts of the sea have declined by more than 80% in many areas thanks to pollution, poaching and commercial development, not to mention the potential for climate change to cause havoc, such as raising water levels and swallowing up their nesting areas beach by beach. But you can give a voice to these helpless creatures and help stop the extinction clock for the leatherback turtles and all species right now, simply by signing our petition

Tell Army to End Rodeo Sponsorship: Every year, the U.S. Army gives about $2 million of taxpayers' money to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys' Association (PRCA) and the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) in hopes of recruiting soldiers into their ranks. The cash is spent on sponsoring cowboys who cruelly treat unwilling horses, calves, and bulls like nothing more than living sports equipment in their pursuit of fame and riches. Please send an email to the Department of Defense politely urging them to immediately stop the Army from using taxpayer money to support rodeo cruelty: http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.aspx Click on "Ask a Question/Submit a Comment"

Tell the Pope, No Fur!--Sign petition now at: http://www.petitiononline.com/FauxFur/petition.html

Save the Sharks: Please contact the Washington, D.C. restaurants that still sell shark fin products and politely request that they immediately stop supporting this industry. Take action: www.idausa.org/campaigns/marine/support_070404.html

SAY NO TO MINING IN GRIZZLY HABITAT: The Cline Mining Corporation wants to gouge a heavily polluting coal mine out of the Flathead River Valley, a thriving Rocky Mountain habitat for grizzly bears that straddles the border of Montana and British Columbia. We need your immediate action to block this dangerous open-pit mining scheme, which would poison the headwaters of the Flathead River and jeopardize the survival of downstream populations of imperiled grizzly bears, wolves, cutthroat trout and other wildlife. Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and urge the British Columbia government to protect the spectacular wildlands and wildlife of the Flathead basin by rejecting the Cline Mining Corporation's reckless plan.

Human Earth Animal Liberation 126 SW 148th St Ste C100-422 Seattle, WA 98166-1984 (877)845-3232 E-mail Us!		HEAL HEAL’S MISSION STATEMENT HEAL is an egalitarian network of activists self-empowered to plan events, create change, and make the world a better place for all life. Our goals include the liberation of humans, nonhuman animals, and the earth! We work in cooperation with like-minded organizations that put compassion in action!
	Teen Liberty Environment					Human Rights Animal Welfare
		CHAPTERS
		California	Colorado	Illinois	Iowa
		Kansas	Kentucky	Mississippi	New York
		N. Carolina	Washington	Wisconsin
		HEAL: Holding Behavior Modification Programs Accountable Since 2002. News: Provo Canyon School is suing HEAL. If you are a victim of Provo Canyon School, please contact us today and be a part of history!