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Compassion, Empathy, and Rage: Some Thoughts from the Kaporos Protests

I’ve written before about my skepticism concerning love as a motivator for animal rights work (or, for that matter, liberation work of any kind). Whenever I hear “I just love animals” in the course of a conversation about someone’s rescued dog, I immediately crouch down inside my brain and wait for them to mention the . . . → Read More: Compassion, Empathy, and Rage: Some Thoughts from the Kaporos Protests

Mother Hen and Chicks (video)

After that last video, you’re ready for some happy chickens, yes? Well, you’re in luck, because one of the feral tree-sleeping hens here at VINE found herself a safe place to hatch a couple of chicks. They’ve been bowling us over with their cuteness ever since. So, here’s your chance to see something few people . . . → Read More: Mother Hen and Chicks (video)

Kapparot Rescue 2012

In this video, viewers meet rescued Kapparot chickens, and VINE Sanctuary co-founder Miriam Jones discusses the experience of saving 29 baby birds from ritual torture. . . . → Read More: Kapparot Rescue 2012

Chimps, Chickens, and Communication

crowing

A new study published in Current Biology proves (as if more evidence were needed) that, in the words of zoologist Matthew Cobb, “humans aren’t quite so unique, after all.” The so-called news is that chimps will warn other chimps about a hazard if and only if the other chimps don’t already know about the danger. . . . → Read More: Chimps, Chickens, and Communication

More on Bird Brains…

Last time around, Miriam shared her reactions to the “news” that chickens feel empathy. Pattrice here, with a few more words on the subject of bird feelings, and the brains that generate them.

My first reaction to the news story was a flood of memories. The sanctuary’s original site was on a country road shared . . . → Read More: More on Bird Brains…

Apples and Chickens

A short post today to share a short thought. As most of you know, we recently relocated the sanctuary here to Vermont, and are lucky enough to have five apple trees and two peach trees on the property (not to mention 30 years of gardening by a master gardener who has left us with beauty . . . → Read More: Apples and Chickens

On-Air Animal Abuse Planned for Inauguration Day

San Francisco radio hosts plan to chase chickens around the studio on Barack Obama’s Inauguration Day, thereby terrifying the birds and making a mockery of the day.

According to the KITS LIVE 105 (San Francisco) website,

Tuesday Morning: Tony (dressed in a chicken suit) will be chasing and trying to catch two chickens in the . . . → Read More: On-Air Animal Abuse Planned for Inauguration Day

Other Kinds of Bird Cages

Rats. Cats. Rabbits. Dogs.

Monkeys.

These are the animals we imagine locked up in vivisection labs, subjected to hurtful and often perverse experiments the purpose of which — beyond the satisfaction of abstract curiosity — is often unclear. Cats and rabbits burned by noxious poisons. Rats purposely starved to death. Dogs trapped in cages with . . . → Read More: Other Kinds of Bird Cages