Fireworks, Biden and Animals, Fake meat and more 7/7/24

With the July 4th holiday last Thursday, fireworks have been in the news, with a stunning New York Times column from Margaret Renkl on the harm they do pets and wildlife, and with a lead Los Angeles Times article today pointing to the air pollution they cause. And as the United States presidential election approaches, it was good to see the Biden administration’s record on animals confronted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. I discussed both of those issues on the Mark Thompson show last week, focusing on the Biden administration’s backing of the pork industry’s attempt to overturn California’s ban on pork from crated pigs. I hope you will check it out.

Margaret Renkl’s beautiful column, headlined “Enough With the Fireworks Already,” ran in print on July 3rd on page A19.

After discussing the effect of fireworks on so many of our nonhuman family members she writes:

“We have no real way of knowing how many wild animals suffer because the patterns of their lives are disrupted with no warning every year on a night in early July. People shooting bottle rockets in the backyard might not see the sleeping songbirds, startled from their safe roosts, exploding into a darkness they did not evolve to navigate — crashing into buildings or depleting crucial energy reserves. People firing Roman candles into the sky above the ocean may have no idea that the explosions can cause seabirds to abandon their nests or frighten nesting shorebirds to death.

“Then there’s the wildlife driven into roads — deer and foxes, opossums and skunks, coyotes and raccoons. Any nocturnal creature in a blind panic can find itself staring into oncoming headlights, unsure whether the greater danger lies in the road or in the sky or in the neighborhood yards surrounding them.

“And all that’s on top of the dangers posed by fireworks debris, which can be toxic if ingested, or the risk of setting off a wildfire in parched summertime vegetation.”

I take great pleasure in sharing this gift link to that piece and please know it is not too late to respond to the New York Times with an appreciative letter sharing your own firework stories and thoughts.

The last line I shared above from Renkl’s piece leads nicely into today’s, Sunday July 7th, Los Angeles Times prominent story, page B1, titled, “Fireworks contribute to unhealthful air in the Southland: The blasts emit high levels of particle and metal pollution, smog- fighting agency says.” The Yahoo link to that article may be useful to those of you who hit a paywall. While that article does not mention the effect on animals, including both pets and wildlife, it provides a great jump-off point for letters sent to the Los Angeles Times that do discuss the effect on animals as yet another reason they are a tradition it is time to tweak.

If you are wondering about alternatives, USA Today covered them last week in an article replete with stunning photos, titled “No fireworks July 4th? Why drones will dazzle the sky.”

I send thanks to David Sickles for sending that our way.

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Before I move to the Biden and animals, let me note that today’s Los Angeles Times also has an article on avian flu, by Susanne Rust, page B1, titled, “San Francisco bird markets may be culprit in virus probe.” Those who hit a paywall might use this AOL link instead.

I send thanks to Elaine Livesey-Fassel for calling our attention to the coverage.

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The Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, by Lew Regenstein, ran last online last weekend under the headline, “What does Biden have against grey whales?” The headline points to the administration’s granting permission to the Makah Tribe to hunt them, but the piece covers numerous other problematic stands.

I will share here what I posted about it on the DawnWatch Facebook page:

The purpose of DawnWatch, the Daily Animal World News Watch, is to inspire activists to inspire the media to cover animal issues well, so that people can make informed choices in line with their own values.

This op-ed in The Wall Street Journal is such a great example of that, in that it shares some previously well-kept secrets.

For example, it notes that the Biden administration tried to overturn California’s Proposition 12, “which eliminates some of the cruel discomfort from tight confinement involved in raising animals for food.”

Specifically, two thirds of Californian voters chose to ban meat from farms that use sow gestation crates, which are coffin sized cages in which female pigs are individually housed for almost their entire lives on factory farms – the vast majority of farms. As California is the world’s fifth largest economy, it is a groundbreaking law that will change the industry. The pork industry challenged it, lost at the state level, and took the fight to the Supreme Court where, sadly, the Biden administration filed a brief in favor of the pork industry’s attempt to overturn the law. The pork industry lost the case, and the law stands.

Given that only 4% of mammals on Earth are wild – the vast majority live on factory farms – any stands against basic farmed animal welfare affect incomparably more animals than bad environmental policy.

People who care about animals have a right to know about such stands so that they can make informed decisions in line with their own values. Though DawnWatch is entirely politically nonpartisan, DawnWatch is entirely for animals and for thorough coverage of issues that affect them profoundly. And so DawnWatch shares a gift link, to this important piece.

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As I mentioned above, I discussed the piece and these issues on the “A Word About Animals” segment on the Mark Thompson show last Monday and hope you will check it out.

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In other major media animal news, posted to the DawnWatch Facebook page https://Facebook.com/DawnWatchInc  over the last week:

The New York Times released a disturbing video titled, “How SpaceX is harming delicate ecosystems.”

The Toronto Star has just published, from Jessica Scott-Reid, an informative piece titled, “‘Ultraprocessed’ plant-based meat isn’t as bad for you as the meat industry wants you to believe.” It’s a great read, and well worth a quick thank you note to the editor, especially from Canadians.

Fox 19 Cincinnati covered a shelter dog turned search and rescue dog. We learn, “”Pendleton County Animal Shelter Director and Animal Control Officer John Bloomfield says the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation reached out to see if he had any dogs fitting their criteria for search dogs.”

How wonderful is that compared to breeding dogs for the job?

Tulsa’s News Channel 8 covered a car dealership being criticized for using elderly elephants in a hot parking lot as a publicity stunt.

And, as the running of the bulls gets going in Pamplona, the Associated Press has focused on the protests. We read:

“’Bullfighting is the long-ritualized execution of bulls and many tourists who come to the bull-runs don’t actually realize that the same bulls they’re running down a couple of streets with are later killed in the bullring that day,’ said Chelsea Monroe, PETA senior digital campaign officer.

“’They’re stabbed over and over again for 20 minutes until they’re dead,’ said Monroe. ‘We want the tourists to know that their money is supporting this really cruel industry.’”

That’s distressing information, but great coverage!

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch