I rushed after work to get over to this unique visit from a lady who has dedicated her last 18 years to help Moon Bears in China and recently Vietnam as well. Jill Robinson the founder of Animals Asia joined us in the Lula Lounge of Toronto to speak about the lives of these gorgeous bears in what they call "Bear Farms".
Within these farms these bears are caged so tightly they cannot move around much and the floor is bars which makes their feet deform over the many and some decades of time being caged. The farmers milk them for their bile to use in ancient chinese medicine. This leaves the wound open and always infected that in time kills these animals but sadly not soon enough since they have to be tortured for years if not decades.
Jo-Anne McArthur was also there being the amazing photographer as well as she had some gorgeous Moon Bear photos up for sale with all proceeds going to Animals Asia.
Please watch the whole talk Jill Robinson gave us in four parts.
PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
Jill Robinson and Myself
Rob Laidlaw of Zoocheck Canada and Myself
Animals Asia North America with Nina Muller the Toronto Volunteer
I was honoured to meet Ric O'Barry for the fourth time this year being the third Country too! We have been talking since the beginning of 2010 and met for the first time this past January when I was in Japan, then again in Miami at the Seaquarium for a protest, and finally twice in Canada for two separate awards!
This award was for being an ECO HERO! Please watch the 9min award ceremony with Ric Speaking. At the end he plugs that he normally comes to Canada to protest Marineland and further states not to buy a ticket to any dolphin shows. Period.
Today I was speaking to a lady named "Joanna Hui" who is very much involved with the banning of shark fin products in Toronto. She shared with me something that inspired me to write about my journey for the sharks.
Joanna Hui said: "I saw the clip with you and Olivia Chow! (Watch Video Below). That was awesome and that definitely had something to do with Fin Donelly moving on it."
It was about 4 and half years ago I had a life changing journey that all started with a movie called "Sharkwater". This movie brought me to understanding the decline of the shark species and the importance it had for the health of the ocean which was also changing and dying. Our globla ecosystem is so highly connected that what we do to the sharks and other crucial things I will not get into at the moment on this planet is criminal.
This started me on a journey as an artist to seek out what my body ached to expose through my paintbrush. I painted a story for the sharks called "One Shark Is Worth A Million Now" and that is when it all began.
One Shark Is Worth A Million Now Finished January 2008
The journey started with the painting and led me to networking the story to bring more people aware of the issue with the plight of the shark and the ocean too. I learned about other animal issues and organizations doing such wonderful work for those areas.
I also decided to create another Shark Painting of a Great White I was inspired by and to help expose the beauty of this ocean animal.
Silver Bullet February 4th, 2009
To stay with the shark part of my journey I found an organization called "Animal Rights Kollective" who were very much willing to help me spread the awareness on the streets for the sharks. It was July of 2008 when my daughter and I joined some other activists at a park called Woodbine Park in Toronto. This is where a store called "Shoppers Drugmart" was sponsoring a "Cure for Cancer" pajama run and Shopper's was a store we focused on due to a product they sold called "Holista - Shark Cartilage".
I then spoke on Vancouver's Animal Voices October of 2008 regarding Holista and Shark Cartlilage to get the message out further - This was my first of many interviews for animals during my journey.
The NOW Magazine placed a small article regarding our protest against Shark Cartilage.
Now this product was our first fight for the Sharks out of Toronto and we joined an awareness organization called "Year of the Shark" to aid in the shark's positive fight. From the streets to the internet we fought Shopper's Drugmart and Holista as well. Within the first few months of 2009 I met Alex S. Earle from Sea Shepherd at a Lush event and we became friends on Facebook. At this moment I shared to him the campaign against Holista and he became very determined to help us with this fight. He opened up dialogue with Holista and that is when I shared this information with "Year of the Shark" and we all educated the company on the product. It was April 27th - 2009 when we received a letter from Holista stating they will no longer support this product and it will cease to exist. Sea Shepherd then posted the letter for our win here "Holista Letter".
"It is for this reason that Holista has ceased purchasing Shark Cartilage raw materials and will no longer be producing Shark Cartilage products. It is our hope that this decision will contribute to the necessary global moratorium required on the harvesting of sharks." ~Holista
It was the new year of 2009 and we did a "Sharkwater" screening just days before our planned Shark Awareness march through chinatown in Toronto. The screening had about 70 people in attendance and the march was just as successful! We event received media attention and a police escort who were very much in favour of our issue.
Shark March through China Town Toronto - January 24th - 2009
August 7th - 2009 I was interviewed by my home town newspaper called "Artist draws attention to plight of sharks"Article Here
August 29th - 2009 I was interviewed by Green Guide Network
"Bob Timmons is an Endangered Marine Animal Artist and Activist. In a few short years his art has not only added to public awareness of animal exploitation but has also allowed him to pursue his cause internationally as the Director of Campaigns for an animal rights organization, ARK II. I spoke to Bob about the message and inspiration behind his passion."Article Here
I was down in Florida and visited a man who has a business called `Key west Extreme`and it was to show people sharks without harming them. He educated people by the thousands per week why we need to protect sharks in the ocean. I was able to interview Captain Ken Harris regarding the Lemon Shark ban vote coming up in Florida which outstandingly passed and was in place for March 23rd - 2010.
Captain Ken Harris - Key west, Florida December 12th, 2009
I was interviewed on Toronto's Animal Voices regarding my art and activism where I spoke about the Shark painting and other paintings I have created and their messages as well.
Part One of Interview December 15th - 2009
I was doing anything I could as an artist and activist for sharks to get the message out that I even had a couple of tattoo's in the sharks honour to promote their need of support!
Making of my Shark Tattoo February 10th - 2010
I even did some Great Whites across my Stomach as a belt of support!
I then did a painting that involved a comparison of a land animal, The Lion, and an ocean animal - The Shark. This I called "Apex Predators Head Toward Extinction". I was asked by an organization called LionAid if I could paint something for them and I decided this was my opportunity to bring awareness to land issues with ocean issues.
Apex Predators Head Toward Extinction - February 21st - 2010
I did a fundraiser to help raise awareness and money to a couple of organizations that were helping sharks in different parts of the world back in May 2010. Then at a filming of "End of the Line" regarding overfishing practices that is killing the ocean's marine ecosystem. The hosts were Olivia and Jack Layton of the NDP party - Provincial and Federal. I found this to be my opportunity to speak about the shark issues to the lady who politically runs the China Town Area of Toronto - Olivia Chow.
Toronto Chinatown MP Olivia Chow & Sharks September 15th - 2010
Then finally after watching the incredible United States of America's news regarding shark fin bans with Hawaii, Oregon and most recently California it was very exciting to have my home town of BRANTFORD, ONTARIO stand up to be the first to ban Shark Fin Products in Canada! To me that was a full circle of action with passion/compassion for the sharks alone.
Shark Ban in Brantford Makes History for Canada May 24th - 2011
Then immediately in June of 2011 a broad coalition of politicians and activists has launched a campaign to ban the sale and consumption of shark fins within Toronto, a feat they hope will trigger a legislative domino effect across North America. Councillors Glenn De Baeremaeker and John Parker joined Ms. Wong-Tam for the campaign launch. They are working with Rob Stewart, director of the award-winning documentary Sharkwater, and representatives from the conservation group WildAid to get 10,000 signatures on a petition and prod City Hall into imposing a ban by October. Article Here
I also decided to launch a necklace charm to aid in the awareness of the sharks and help to tell their story. I call my jewelery line `Blood in the Ocean` and you can see the shark charm here - Shark.
And then Friday September 9th - 2011 in Toronto the meeting of the Licensing and Standards Committee voted to refer the item to the Executive Director of the Municipal Licensing and Standards Committee to report back on a bylaw to ban the possession, sale and consumption of shark fin products. All the shark advocates of "Fin Free" and others joined together to speak on behalf of the sharks today! Giving the sharks a voice to save the species from this horrific slaughter worldwide for only their fins. Blogged it Here.
Now we wait for October 13th - 2011! This week is the most important vote for the sharks in Canada where the large Asian Population resides - Toronto. Please if you are anywhere near Toronto come here for 9am at the Toronto City Hall. If you feel you can speak just to say "I Support The Ban On Shark Fins" then please do or just come and be a member of the audience in support of the Shark Ban in Toronto! Please Send Joanna Hui an email at jhui@toronto.ca to let her know you are planning to attend to give her an idea of how many people will be there and may speak.
Thank you all for supporting and being a Voice for the SHARKS!
Join my Email list on my website and learn about when I will be launching my book of my Ocean Animal Awareness Paintings.
As we continue to count the days of the prophecy's and wonder when is the person, the anit-christ, going to come and create havoc on the world and its inhabitants. We have been waiting and searching for anything to reveal itself - him/her - and so we could be ready and prepared.
Yesterday I was speaking with a very well informed individual who said something that triggered my mind to ask him to repeat. He said the Anti-Christ is not a person that we have been perceived to believe and look for but now that a Corporation is considered a person look at the evil destructive manner it reaps on our world - the people - the animals - the environment! This opened my mind up and it became untwisted.
The thoughts I am having now come together to really let me see this new idea - Corporation = Anti-Christ - that has been written about over thousands of years. I see the evil that Corporations are doing from the factory farms to the animal testing to the pollution and starving people! The slavery of sweatshops in asia to the animal slavery in food production and pharmaceuticals. The evil doing is unimaginable yet it is happening.
I want to share you a great video from Keith Olberman that speaks of the demands of the Occupy Wall Street and listen for this:
“They [corporations] have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.”
There will be and are a lot of Uprising happening around the world and especially across the United States of America! Go here and see what city is closest to you or how you can start your own city become awakened! Occupy Together Meetups in 747 Cities so far! OCCUPY TOGETHER
If you haven't seen the uproar yet about occupying our streets again then you have to follow some links below and get yourself out there in your city to OCCUPY!
Right now in NYC they are on their 10th day of Occupying Wall Street! This to me is so incredible and very much needed! It is time to have the 99% stand up and tell the government to stop supporting the corporations and using the police against peaceful protesters! This Occupance of Big Banks and Stock Markets is happening all over the world and I just learned its coming to the Toronto Market Exchange October 15th!
The inherent nature of a movement like this does not strictly allow organizers such as myself much flexibility in the manifestation of a schedule. The first three days are what will dictate the scheduling for the rest of this event. That being said it is crucial that within these first three days we are using these scheduled slots for General Assembly to put together the most intellectual individuals to construct our future as OccupyToronto. We will not march until the TSX is open and in business on Monday, which gives us the weekend to have the group on slow boil while we determine the best course of action.
Laptops and Cameras are essential to the indepedent coverage of OccupyToronto.
We also need:
PO BOX Power Bars + Extension Cables / Generator Blankets + Pillows Dried Goods / Water Source
Saturday, October 15th, 2011
10am Begin the occupation
Noon Welcome our first flood.
12:30PM - 3:30PM General Assembly
3:45PM - 6:15PM Internet Promotion of Event / General Assembly
6:30PM - 9:30PM General Assembly
9:45PM - Midnight Internet Promotion of Event / General Assembly
Sunday, October 16th, 2011
9am Good Morning Occupy Toronto!
12:30PM - 3:30PM General Assembly
3:45PM - 6:15PM Internet Promotion of Event / General Assembly
6:30PM - 9:30PM General Assembly
9:45PM - Midnight Internet Promotion of Event / General Assembly
Monday. October 17th, 2011
9:00AM - 10:00AM First March Proposed in GA
10:30AM - 12:30AM OccupyToronto Naturally
12:30PM - 3:30PM General Assembly
3:45PM - 6:15PM Internet Promotion of Event / General Assembly
6:30PM - 9:30PM General Assembly
9:45PM - Midnight Internet Promotion of Event / General Assembly
I had the pleasure to speak to Thomas Janak of Wild Time Radio.
Thomas was able to speak to myself about many things regarding the ocean from my view point and action. I was able to speak on my ocean art to my ocean jewelry line. The way I use my paintbrush as a weapon for the ocean itself. However it doesn't just stop at my art but it goes to my activism within Toronto and on land in Japan - Taiji for that matter.
I was able to speak about when I started my journey for the animals to what I am currently apart of or at least I am helping with. I spoke about Animal Rights Kollective, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Toronto Pig Save, Cove Guardians, Sharkwater, United Conservationists, and Herbivores - Animal Frequency.
Hope you will enjoy the interview of my Journey that you can find here:
I have come to learn that the city I currently live in was named Hog Town. Toronto has been killing hogs for over a century now! I don't mean just 1 or 2 here or there either! One pig slaughtering plant named Quality Meat Packers kills approximately 7,000 hogs per day and 35,000 per week! This makes the death toll around 1.84 Million per year! For what? A ham sandwich or a hot dog!! These numbers are staggering to me and I had to go see what this place was all about!
I showed up at 2 Techumseh and experienced a new level of awareness for myself. There were security gaurds scrambling around out front of where the trucks come in and where they come out. It is like a drive through pig drop off. The loaded trucks filled with upset and uncomfortable, exhausted pigs drive in one way and wait their turn while a truck is offloading. Now offloading is a story within itself.
When the pigs are being offloaded it all depends on the connection of the driver to the animals. In the case I seen this driver walked around with no shirt on and showed attitude. He was in the trailer and you could hear him zapping the pigs and the pigs were screaming constantly through out his presence in the trailer as they ran off into the slaughtering plant that they would meet their doom. The pigs you will see in the videos below are all deceased now and maybe at this point eaten already. There is no gore on the video but the sounds mixed with the understanding that they are living is real and spine chilling!
Video: On August 23rd I witnessed the offloading of a single truck while an empty one left and a full one waited. The screams of the pigs are in real time and not edited in place.
There was one security guard there that was very polite and talkative. He states in the video that he took a walk around the plant but couldn't stand being in there and had to leave because the smell was over-powering. I asked him later if he was going to go and eat a hot dog after. He told me that he doesn't eat pigs anyway due to his religion. He further stated that the one trucker with his shirt off was showing off in the plant and walking around zapping and kicking the pigs. Then he stated that they cannot even keep employees, they almost have a new crew daily. I finished our conversation with "Do you find it weird that you are protecting a place that kills pigs and you do not even choose to eat them due to your religion" He then shook his head in disbelief and said I am only doing this one day.
PETA had a demonstration outside of the Quality Meat Packers on June 21st - 2011. They were showing people that meat is meat. Animal and human meat are the same and sometimes or almost always people do not think about that in a manner that can really make you feel for these animals in a way you do not want them killed.
Video: On June 21, Peta and a couple dozen of animal rights supporters held a solemn and subdued protest outside Toronto's Quality Meat Packers' pig slaughterhouse at 2 Tecumseth.
"On August 18, 2011, five members of Toronto Pig Save bore witness and protested on "pig island" - a traffic island at Lakeshore and Strachan where transport trucks carry hot, dehydrated and often scared and scarred pigs to Quality Meat Packers - Toronto's pig slaughterhouse. These kind, highly sensitive and intelligent social animals deserve to live in a farm sanctuary rather than be confined in factory farms, transported without food and water, and then brutally "stunned" in carbon dioxide gas chambers and then shackled on one foot and hung upside down (after being "stunned" the pigs lose consciousness for about 1.5 minutes before they start blinking and later trying to stand up), then are bled and sent to a scalding tank to remove hair (some may be conscious at that point and suffer unimaginable torture)." ~ Toronto Pig Save (source with video http://vimeo.com/28063860)
Below are some photos I managed to capture while the trucks sat dorment with the pigs inside. These pigs come from farms all over ontario on a daily basis! Seven Thousand! This number just bothers me so much and its in my backyard! Toronto Pig Save are protesting this neighbourhood at least 3 times a week! They need more people with cameras - video or still - to help make a difference and shut them down! Right now Quality Meat Packers is paying out of pocket for security due to the protesting and that is just the start to making the goal happen! Truck drivers are not liking the cameras and attention and some have told Toronto Pig Save that they will be quitting since they do not like what they are doing.
Please join Toronto Pig Save in their actions to shut down a Pig Slaughtering Plant in the residential downtown of Toronto! You can visit their website here
Toronto Pig Save's mission is to make slaughterhouses have glass windows, including Quality Meat Packers - Toronto's pig slaughterhouse. Just like Paul McCartney said, "If slaughterhouses had windows, everybody would be a vegetarian." We are an animal rights and pro-labour group, in support of a Just Transition towards a food economy that is organic, local, and whole grain and plant based (that is, vegan).
Today in Toronto the meeting of the Licensing and Standards Committee voted to refer the item to the Executive Director of the Municipal Licensing and Standards Committee to report back on a bylaw to ban the possession, sale and consumption of shark fin products. All the shark advocates of "Fin Free" and others joined together to speak on behalf of the sharks today! Giving the sharks a voice to save the species from this horrific slaughter worldwide for only their fins.
Well today the speakers on the opposition side and defence for the sharks spoke and everyone waited to hear the vote!
The VOTE was Unanimous to take it to the licensing and standards committee in November! Only half of the speakers were able to testify which gives me a positive feeling that this is being heard by people who are concerned with the shark species and the ocean/planet as well!
This is a critical first step in getting a ban in Canada's largest municipality and we are optimistic that the City staff will come up with a strong bylaw that will protect sharks and set a strong precedent for other municipalities.
It has been a few years since Toronto has seen some great positive action for the shark species. Sharks are what got me into the animal world and it all started with the movie Sharkwater! Sharkwater was starred and produced by a local Torontonian Rob Stewart. It brought Landlocked cities like Toronto to the ocean issues and the plight of the shark species. This movie brought me to starting a campaign against Shopper's Drugmart and then Holista for their shark cartilage. We won a Nationwide Campaign against Holista when Sea Shepherd came on board and started up dialogue with Holista and our large "Year of the Shark" network all jumped in and educated the company. Well now here we are with the THIRD's a Charm issue! The Banning of Shark Fin possession and consumption in Toronto.
Extremely Important Information Below!
_________________________________________________________
The opposition is going to be out in full force at Toronto City Hall this week where the motion to ban shark fin is on the agenda. We need people to testify this FRIDAY, Sept 9 at 9:30am in support of the ban - max 5 min each, especially those with personal experience or close connections to the cause.
Contact Jennifer ASAP at mailto:finfree@unitedconservationists.org (P.S. Please forward this.).org
_________________________________________________________
Also I would like to invite you to a party happening next week called "An Evening For The Shark" with Rob Stewart and many other guests.
Join Rob Stewart, director and star of the award winning film, SHARKWATER, and other special guests
TICKETS: $25 DONATION IN ADVANCE / $35 AT DOOR
Ticket price includes tasty treats, 2 exclusive Skyy Vodka Sharkwater cocktails, Toronto's hottest DJs, and a DrinkMe ‘morning after’ tonic
Musical Guests: Justin Nozuka, DJ Shine, Bikini (DJ), Mia Martina, Massari, Danny Fernandes
ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT UNITED CONSERVATIONISTS AND THE CAMPAIGN TO MAKE CANADA FIN FREE.
Celebrate the launch of United Conservationists, Rob’s revolutionary new NGO
TRIBUTE.CA
SHARKWATER
ULTRA
SKYY VODKA
DRINKME
Miller
Notable.CA
ElectrCITY Events
If you cannot attend this event we will miss you, but please consider making a donation to United Conservationists. www.unitedconservationists.org
Storm-tossed: Firefighters search through houses destroyed by a landslide triggered by Typhoon Talas in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, on Sunday morning. KYODO - Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110905a1.html
It was last Dolphin Slaughter season in Taiji when about 65 Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians stayed in the nearby town called Nachikatsuura. This small town is a huge fishing town but not one dolphin comes off the boats - its a 10 minute drive down the coast away. Taiji is not far at all and the news I have found states how hard this area was hit by the dreadful Typhoon Talas. Below is a video of how large the storm was prior to hitting the Japanese coastline. You do not need to watch it long to see the power it held.
Nachikatsuura and Singu were hit hard in the Wakayama area which was ground zero for the Cove Guardian's who traveled from around the world. I found these following reports (Article posted at end):
"In four towns in Wakayama, including Nachikatsuura and Shingu, more than 3,600 people in 37 areas had been cut off in isolated pockets of the prefecture as of Sunday night, it was learned."
"Seven people went missing in Shingu and 13 in Nachikatsuura."
"Two-thirds of a 39-meter-long iron bridge over the Nachi River in the town of Nachikatsuura collapsed and was washed away in the swollen river. The bridge serves JR West's Kise Line, but no injuries were reported as the train operator halted all of its operations on the line."
Currently there are 20 dead, 55 missing in Talas' wake. The Wakayama region is one that was hit very hard and 12 of the dead found. Below is a video put out by people who accompanied Ric O'Barry. This video is prior to the heaviest power of the Typhoon and really shows you what the dolphins had to endure to try and stay alive. Needless to say most of the dolphins drowned and we're just waiting on better confirmation.
The dolphins should not have had to endure such irresponsibility and lose their lives. To pack up and run for the hills to save your life and leave behind an animal that feels with emotions and deserves to live as well is "Criminal!" Below is a video of some aftermath of Typhoon Talas with some locals. It looks as bad as the Tsunami that hit months ago in the spring.
The Tsunami and the Typhoon in the Animal Network world seem to have hit on some important dates and issues. As the whale killers were shutdown whaling in the Antarctic by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society the Tsunami came about and devastated the Northern part of Japan where thousands of small porpoises are murdered by harpooning. Then a few days ago Typhoon Talas comes across the southern part of Japan on the start of their Dolphin Killing season. Some may say "So What!" However if you follow the animals within our planet that are exploited and killed for money then you would find this to be an odd coincidence. I believe it is damn sad to see any person or animal die however when I was back in Taiji last January the one thing we prayed for was bad weather to stop the killing for that duration. So the results of these powerful storms may have an impact on the upcoming whaling in the antarctic and now may have an impact on when the 12 Deadly Sins of Taiji actually go out and drive in and kill their first innocent dolphin family.
I am finishing this blog off with the plea from Ric O'Barry prior to any of the dolphins dying in Taiji at Dolphin Base. Its just so sad to neglect a soul that cannot defend themselves when placed into a cage against their own will.
