IDA - Bay Area Alert

IDA EVENTS
1. Try the World GO VEGAN Days Menu Special at Bay Area Restaurants
2. Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach
3. Career Opportunities at IDA

OTHER BAY AREA EVENTS TO HELP ANIMALS
1. Demonstrate Against Foster Farms' Cruelty to Chickens
2. "Peaceable Kingdom" Screening in Marin
3. Compassionate Cooks' November Cooking Class
4. Foster Homes Needed for Dogs Rescued from New Orleans


IDA EVENTS

1. Try the World GO VEGAN Days Menu Special at Bay Area Restaurants

IDA's World GO VEGAN Days is almost here, and so is your chance to take your meat-eating friends out for a discounted vegan meal. Participating Bay Area restaurants are offering a special World GO VEGAN Days deal: one half-price vegan meal for every full-price vegan meal purchased between October 30th and November 1st. This is an excellent opportunity to give those who still eat animal products a taste of how delicious a more nutritious, animal-loving, earth-friendly way of life can be!

What You Can Do

Click http://www.idausa.org/vegandays/restaurant_specials.html for a list of participating restaurants. If your favorite vegan or vegan-friendly restaurant isn't listed, ask them to offer the World GO VEGAN Days Special. If they sign on, let us know by contacting IDA's Vegan Campaign Coordinator Kenneth Williams at (415) 388-9641, ext. 224 or Kenneth [at] idausa.org . We'll send participating restaurants a free World GO VEGAN Days poster, plus they'll get free publicity on IDA's World GO VEGAN Days website ( http://www.WorldGoVeganDays.com ) and on the syndicated radio program "Go Vegan With Bob Linden" ( http://www.goveganradio.com ). We'll also give you a press release that you can send to your local media to raise vegan awareness about World GO VEGAN Days, and we have speakers who are available for interviews.


2. Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach

Join the San Francisco Wildlife Protection Project, a joint effort by IDA and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, to create a wildlife "sanctuary" along the Great Highway. By landscaping the area according to the Parks Department's specifications, volunteers create a habitat for native gophers and prevent them from being trapped and killed. This is an ongoing monthly effort, and usually takes place on the first Saturday of each month.

What: Gopher Gardening at Ocean Beach
When: Saturday, November 5th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Where: Corner of the Great Highway and Wawona Street, San Francisco, at the small brick Recreation and Park maintenance building. Click http://tinyurl.com/4hnh2 for directions to this event.

For more information, please contact IDA's Bay Area Coordinator Karen Steele at (415) 388-9641, ext. 217 or karen [at] idausa.org .


3. Career Opportunities at IDA

If you love animals and want to make your living making their lives better, then consider joining the IDA team as a full- or part-time employee. IDA currently has several job openings we are looking to fill with dedicated advocates who want to make a real difference for the animals.

IDA's headquarters is located in beautiful Mill Valley, about 10 miles north of San Francisco in Marin County. If you want to work for an organization that is dedicated to helping animals, we'd love to hear from you. Please click http://idausa.org/about/jobs.html for position descriptions and qualifications and to apply. If you know someone who may be interested in working for IDA, please forward this post on for his or her consideration.


OTHER BAY AREA EVENTS TO HELP ANIMALS

1. Demonstrate Against Foster Farms' Cruelty to Chickens

As the largest poultry producer in the Western U.S., Foster Farms slaughters five million chickens a week for human consumption. On their website ( http://www.fosterfarms.com/about/advertising.asp ) they claim they are committed to providing families with "fresh poultry that's pure and natural." Yet, despite its exceptional economic growth, Foster Farms fails to provide adequate care for chickens. After hatching, Foster Farms' broilers spend their short lives in large structures known as growout houses, each of which holds approximately 20,000 birds. Packed tightly together, chickens are forced to stand on accumulated fecal waste and breathe in dust and ammonia fumes, and many suffer from chronic hunger, leg deformities and enlarged hearts that can cause Sudden Death Syndrome. How "pure and natural" is that?

What You Can Do

Please help East Bay Animal Advocates (EBAA) protest against Foster Farms' inhumane treatment of chickens at a demonstration outside of Safeway, one of their top buyers.

What: Demonstration against Foster Farms
When: Sunday, October 16th from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Where: Safeway Supermarket, 3747 Grand Ave. (near Walker Ave.), Oakland (click http://tinyurl.com/9bdtw for directions)

For more information and to volunteer, email info [at] eastbayanimaladvocates.org or call (925) 487-4419. Also visit http://www.fosterfacts.net to learn more about the sad plight of Foster Farms chickens. Visit http://www.eastbayanimaladvocates.org for more information about EBAA.


2. "Peaceable Kingdom" Screening in Marin

If you haven't yet seen "Peaceable Kingdom," the groundbreaking factory farming documentary by Tribe of Heart, then you'll want to mark your calendar for this upcoming screening in Marin. The film explores the transformation that is taking place in our society regarding people's understanding of farmed animals - the intelligent, loving beings that people more often eat than pet. It profiles several courageous ex-farmers turned animal advocates, one of whom is Harold Brown, who will give a presentation after the screening.

Farmer Brown is a former cattle farmer turned farm animal advocate who was raised on a cattle farm in Michigan and spent half of his life engaged in animal agriculture. Now, having metamorphosed from a "beef" farmer to a vegan and farmed animal advocate, he encourages farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices and "Put the Family Back in Farming." Farmer Brown will speak about the destructive environmental impact of factory farming and the benefits of moving away from animal agriculture to a plant-based agricultural production system.

What: "Peaceable Kingdom" screening featuring a presentation by Farmer Harold Brown
When: Tuesday, October 18th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: The Marin Humane Society, 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd., Novato (click http://www.marinhumanesociety.org/main_contacts.html#anchormap for directions)

This is a FREE event. Please call (415) 506-6288 to RSVP.


3. Compassionate Cooks' November Cooking Class: "Thanksgiving for the Birds"

Join the Compassionate Cooks for their next vegan cooking class, "Thanksgiving for the Birds," which features a cornucopia of delicious dishes that will impress friends and family members alike while showing reverence to the 300 million turkeys killed each year (45 million of which are killed for Thanksgiving alone).

Let the Compassionate Cooks show you how to make five delicious, nutritious dishes, including Harvest-Stuffed Winter Squash, Sensational Stuffing with Toasted Nuts and Raisins, Mashed Potatoes with Carmelized Onions, Glazed Garlic Green Beans, and Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust. Participants will have lots of fun while eating yummy food samples made from local, seasonal and organic ingredients!

What: Compassionate Cooks' November Cooking Class: "Thanksgiving for the Birds"
When: Saturday, November 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: The First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. (at Castro), Oakland (click http://www.uuoakland.org/directions.htm for directions)

This is the Compassionate Cooks' most popular cooking class of the year, so be sure to reserve your space while there's still room. Register in advance by November 11th online at http://www.compassionatecooks.com or call (510) 531-COOK. The cost of the class is $40, and includes instruction, food samples, copies of recipes and much more.


4. Foster Homes Needed for Dogs Rescued from New Orleans

Rocket Dog Rescue, a 501c3 non-profit shelter dog rescue in San Francisco, is receiving groups of dogs from New Orleans who need temporary foster homes NOW! The number of dogs being rescued from the Big Easy is immense, and many are already being euthanized for lack of homes and resources to care for them, so time is of the essence. The more foster homes that can be found for these dogs in the Bay Area, the more lives can be saved.

What You Can Do

If you would like to foster a dog rescued from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, please write to RocketDogKatrinaFoster [at] yahoo.com . However, if you are considering being a foster guardian, there are a few conditions to keep in mind:

- You must commit to providing a foster home for a dog for at least one month. After that time, foster guardians will be given the first option to adopt dogs that are not claimed by their guardians.

- Please be aware that these dogs have been through a traumatic experience, and Rocket Dog Rescue does not know their temperaments and personalities very well. Once you commit to fostering a dog, Rocket Dog Rescue cannot take him or her back, even if they are not housetrained or if they "misbehave" in some way. Foster guardians need to be willing to work through any behavioral issues with rescued dogs. Be sure that you can make this level of commitment before offering to foster a dog.

- When you email Rocket Dog Rescue, please list what size and activity level of dog you
are willing to foster. Homes are mainly needed for large dogs, as well as lots of very sweet pit bulls, but smaller dogs of other breeds also need foster homes.

Even though it's a big responsibility, fostering a rescued dog can be an extremely rewarding experience. Those who have rescued and fostered dogs know how grateful and happy they are to be loved and cared for.

If you would like be an essential part of this life-saving operation, please contact Rocket Dog Rescue as soon as you know you can foster a dog. You can begin by filling out the foster home guidelines, responsibilities and liability release at http://www.rocketdogrescue.org/pages/fosterguidenew.pdf and the foster home questionnaire at http://www.rocketdogrescue.org/pages/fosterquest.pdf. To learn more about Rocket Dog Rescue, please visit http://www.rocketdogrescue.org .