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Join us in mourning and remembering Baltimore Blum, who died in his sleep last night after living at the sanctuary since 2002. Baltimore began life at a foie gras factory, where he was caged without access to water, besieged by rats, and force-fed massive quantities of food by pneumatic tube in hope that he would develop the fatty liver disease upon which the texture and taste of pate foie gras depend. . . . → Read More: In Memoriam: Baltimore Blum Interesting article here, posted to the AR News by Leilani Sanctuary. http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/24/us/drought-missouri-dairy-farmers/index.html?h\ By interesting, I mean many things, particularly the assertion by the wife of one of these farmers that “we did everything right,” but the “system failed us” because (apparently) the government isn’t giving enough subsidies to these people. Dairy farmers aren’t given . . . → Read More: Interesting Article about Drought, Dairy “Farmers” Just a quick post to alert our friends to a couple of online innovations here at VINE Sanctuary. First, have you checked out our Facebook page or YouTube channel? Kathy updates our Facebook page almost every day, with pictures and news of the sanctuary residents living “up the hill.” And Cheryl keeps making cute videos . . . → Read More: VINE Sanctuary Online You most certainly have heard of the ridiculous (and chilling) response by the USDA to the outrage over their initial endorsement of Meatless Mondays. In a nutshell, the USDA first approved of, and then denounced, this initiative which was begun several years ago and exists in a variety of different forms throughout the world, including . . . → Read More: Excellent Blog Post about Meatless Mondays At present, I’m on Smith Island with Aram where we lived for about three years while Pattrice operated the sanctuary herself and right before we relocated to Vermont. It’s a magical place, Smith Island. It’s the only inhabited island in Maryland that isn’t connected to the mainland by bridge (being, as it is, about 14 . . . → Read More: Time to Get Back to the Animals WARNING: This blog will be even more personal than usual, so if you’re uninterested in that whole personal-meets-political stuff, this one isn’t for you. Last week, my Uncle Paul had a heart attack, followed by triple bypass surgery the following day. Apparently, there was only one artery they could get a balloon catheter into, and . . . → Read More: Heart Attacks and Animal Rights: Some Thoughts The Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro is something I’ve wanted to write about for a long time now. Each year, though, I seem to miss the deadline, as I did this year. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m dissociating the event, so since that is the case – and since the issues involved . . . → Read More: The Strolling of the Heifers and Dissociation: Some Thoughts New from Animal Blawg, an EXCELLENT source of information, comes this description of one woman’s opportunity to teach a class of high school students about the obscenity — and ubiquity — of “farming” animals, particularly factory farming. She does an excellent job of laying out some “talking points” — ones we can all use when . . . → Read More: Check out this blog: The animal industrial complex: The monster in our midst The following is an essay by Cheryl Wylie, who is the caretaker for the ones who live on the hill (sounds like a horror movie, doesn’t it?). She’d been saying fascinating things about the differences between farms and sanctuaries in terms of the overall energy of each kind of place, and how it’s clear to . . . → Read More: “Farm Mentality” versus “Sanctuary Mentality:” Some Thoughts on the Matter |
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Solar-Powered Insects and Mad Scientists
Ever since I moved back to the sanctuary, I’ve been fascinated by insects. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve always appreciated them. But something about moving to a place where the insects are unfamiliar to me (and visit regularly) has heightened my awareness of the many charms of Arthropoda.
From whence I write (that's . . . → Read More: Solar-Powered Insects and Mad Scientists