You know that millions of rabbits, raccoon dogs, and other animals die in gruesome ways for the fur industry. Clothing retailer Talbots knows this too, because it has been fur-free for years. But now, Talbots may begin selling clothing made with animal fur.
With so many warm, fashionable alternatives available, there is simply no reason to wear animal fur, and there's certainly no reason for Talbots to sell it! Talbots has hundreds of stores across the country, and its heartless decision to sell fur would set a terrible example for other retailers.
TAKE ACTION
Please call Talbots toll-free at 1-800-992-9010 and politely ask it to say no to the cruel, unnecessary fur trade. Be sure to mention if you are a Talbots customer, and how its decision will affect your shopping choices. After you have made your call, please send a follow-up email (use link above).
The city of Mission Viejo, Calif., has given a permit for local residents to kill the rabbits in a gated retirement community.
Please contact the Palmia Home Owners Association, which is hiring the company to shoot the rabbits, and respectfully ask them to consider a humane option for the removal of the wild rabbits.
Palmia Home Owners Association
21455 Monterey
Mission Viejo, CA 92692-4927
(949) 586-4778
http://www.palmiahoa.com/
For more information, please visit http://www.rabbit.org/opinion/missionviejo.html
Sadly, the July issue of Marin Magazine wrote a glowing recommendation of the "Thursday Night Rabbit Meat Special" at Piazza D'Angelo restaurant in Mill Valley.
Please politely express your opinions about rabbit meat to both Marin Magazine and Piazza D'Angelo. Here are 3 tips for writing letters to the editor or businesses:
1.Be professional and courteous. Strive to educate and not argue.
2. Identify yourself as a concerned consumer with choices about how to spend your money. Avoid listing yourself as a member of a group, such as PETA, House Rabbit Society or SaveABunny. Unfortunately, sometimes being identified with a group will mistakenly get your opinion discounted as being "extremist" or "animal rights."
These places need to know that everyday customers and animal lovers in general (Not just rabbit owners)do not approve or support rabbit meat or fur.
3. Continue the dialogue and don't stop at a form letter reply. Go to the next level of management or ownership and be persistent and polite.
Below is the official letter from SaveABunny that is being sent to Marin Magazine in response to the article:
Piazza D'Angelo, 22 Miller Ave., Mill Valley, 415.388.2000 Piazza D'Angelo
http://www.piazzadangelo.com (Their web link has beenbroken. Maybe send a hand-written note)
Official letter from SaveABunny that is being sent to Marin Magazine in response to the article.
Has Marin Lost Its Heart In the Pursuit of New Pleasures?
Here in Marin, most of us are fortunate to live in comfort and affluence as a sophisticated and educated community. We stretch our spiritual muscles at yoga classes, meditate at Spirit Rock, recycle our plastic and paper, volunteer at Marine Mammal Center or Guide Dogs for the Blind, and eat organic foods.
The value we place on leading a conscious, compassionate lifestyle is at odds with a trend now being promoted in “progressive,” animal–loving Marin County: the consumption of one of the nation’s most beloved and popular pets, bunny rabbits. Yes, everyone should have a choice about what they want to eat. Just please, let us be sure it is an educated and thoughtful choice.
Rabbits are loving, highly intelligent companion animals that are as smart and sensitive as cats and dogs. They learn to use a litter box like a cat, know their names, and bond for life with their human guardians and bunny mates. Even famed “tough guy” Clint Eastwood and his wife live with a pet bunny named “August” they adopted from a Monterey shelter.
In the July issue of Marin Magazine, accompanied by a photo, is #7 of “the New Classics”-- Piazza D’Angelo’s “Thursday Night Rabbit Dish.” Really? A whole evening devoted to consuming cute, gentle companion animals you can adopt for your kids at the Marin Humane Society? Is “Horse Meat Happy Hour” next? Would you eat a hotdog if it was actually “Hot Dog?” Like rabbit, horse meat is a traditional dish in other parts of the world, but it is verboten here. Same thing goes with dog or cat meat being a delicacy in other countries. We like to think we’re too civilized to eat our pets, which is what makes the attempted normalization of rabbit-eating so reprehensible here.
You don’t have to be a rabbit owner to be offended and saddened by the insensitivity of the Marin Magazine article and the “yuckiness” factor of the “Thursday night” special itself. If you love animals of any kind, you will realize that in this country, and especially in Marin, we simply don’t eat our pets. Although conscience-soothing buzzwords, like “green,” “sustainable” and “organic,” are now being employed to market rabbit meat, the fact remains that eating bunnies is NOT a compassionate or cruelty-free choice. Ultimately, it is no more than a decision to increase someone’s profits, not a revolutionary way to save our planet.
Did you know that the rabbits you see on restaurant menus like Poggio and Piazza D’Angelo are the exact same breed and type of rabbit as those who cuddle with you and your kids? Meat rabbits are not wild animals or game. In fact, “meat” rabbits cannot even breed with the wild rabbits in this country because they are so genetically different from one another.
The rabbit meat at Piazza D’Angelo and other Bay Area restaurants comes from the aptly named “Devil’s Gulch” ranch in West Marin, which by its own website lists 1000 rabbits per week being raised for meat. That’s a lot of bunnies.
According to the Devil’s Gulch website, the rabbits they raise are a mix of three popular breeds of pet rabbits: Rex, New Zealand and Californian. The website praises the “mellower temperament” of these bunnies as “helpful for their mothering ability and handling in general.” In other words, the very traits of being gentle and nurturing mothers––qualities that would normally make these rabbits excellent pets––are what make them ideal for quick slaughter. The rabbit you eat will likely be a teenager of about 6-8 months old or younger. It will also be the exact same type of bunny you could easily choose to bring home to become part of your family––a smart, funny, loving pet.
In the 1987 movie “Fatal Attraction” starring Glenn Close, the definitive proof of her character’s sociopathology was the moment when she boiled a little girl’s pet rabbit. Over 25 years later, Marin now has the dubious distinction of leading the way in trying to make money by creating a new niche for rabbit meat and pretending that it somehow makes sense. Are we really that bored with the other menu options? We certainly don’t lack for food and variety. And really, it would be more “green” for us to use our existing resources wisely, rather than creating new consumer demands.
What if you could choose your live rabbit meal from a lobster type tank? Imagine telling your friendly server, “Yes, my family and I want you to kill and cook the cute fluffy little white momma bunny in the corner. Oh, and bring fries on the side.” You might scoff at the idea of such a thing, but consider this undeniable fact: a bunny gets killed for the sake of a profit margin if you point to that dish on the menu Thursday night.
Has Marin lost its heart and forgotten the beauty of practicing acts of kindness---just for someone new to eat at dinner?
Please speak out against Sunset Magazine's July issue which featured an enthusiastic and misguided recommendation of "rabbit meat the new white meat."
SUNSET Magazine, July 2010 Issue, p. 16 "The West at its Best"
Please send polite letters educating Sunset magazine staff and readers why rabbits make intelligent, wonderful, loving companions and should no more be considered "white meat" than horses, dogs, cats and other companion animals.
Editorial Contact Information
Please address correspondence to:
Sunset Reader Letters
80 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, a leading national specialty retailer of crafting products, may be a great place to shop for dress patterns and fun kits for kids, but it’s also selling rabbit fur: http://bit.ly/azDTnf
In the US, no federal laws protect rabbits, minks, chinchillas, and other animals farmed for their fur. The fur industry remains completely self-regulated; animals are kept in crowded, filthy wire cages, where they often develop neurotic behaviors and become sick or wounded, and fur farmers kill them by breaking their necks while they are fully conscious or by using anal or genital electrocution.
The situation is worse in China, the world’s largest exporter of fur, where an absence of animal-protection laws means animals suffer unimaginable cruelty—some animals raised for their fur may even be skinned alive.
Some stores try to justify selling rabbit fur by saying that it is “just a byproduct” of the rabbit meat industry, but this is absolutely not true. The rabbit fur industry actually demands the pelt of thicker, older animals than those who are slaughtered for meat. In fact, the United Nations reports that “few skins are now retrieved from slaughterhouses,” and countries such as France kill as many as 70 million rabbits a year for fur. Like other animals raised and killed for their fur, rabbits -- who are extremely clean by nature -- are kept in tiny, filthy cages, surrounded by their own waste. They spend their entire miserable lives standing on the thin wires of their cage, never having a chance to dig, jump, or play. The methods of slaughter are inhumane -- to kill the rabbits, fur farmers snap the animals’ necks or smash their skulls before stringing them up by their legs and cutting off their heads.
Animal lovers, especially those in the US, are appalled at the use of dog and cat fur. Rabbit fur is no different! Please contact Jo-Ann Fabrics and urge them to stop selling fur from these gentle animals. Inform them that rabbits are sensitive, intelligent animals who form strong bonds with their mates and human companions. They are pets, not pelts!
Contact information:
1-888-739-4120 (M-F 9am -8pm; Sat 9am-6pm ET)
We accept PayPal or check
Donate when you Shop using iGive!
