Taking a mudbath for Patches

Larry, demonstrating the muddy state of the pig yard

Patches is 12 years old, and suffers from the usual indignities that come with old age: arthritis, and greater difficulty in getting around. She spends most of her time in the smaller pig barn, which is where most of the older pigs prefer to hang out.

It rained quite a bit this past week, so the pig yard was a mess. A boot-sucking muddy mess.

Patches had left the barn after being hassled by one of the other pigs, and she just couldn’t get herself back to it. Normally she can, but not only does she have arthritis, she has some weakness in the rear legs, and the mud makes it a thousand times more difficult.

In other words, she needed some help.

So, we have: a 500lb pig (I’m guessing at the weight), who is arthritic and weak in the rear legs and we also have a muddy quagmire of a pig yard. And we have Dave and four women. We might be strong, but we’re still kind of puny.

The mud was cold, and she was shivering. Dave got an old burlap bag or something of the sort, that he rolled up so we could use it as a sort of sling. This was all so much more difficult than you might imagine. First, Patches was laying in a way that didn’t have her rear feet under neath her, so we had to shift her to the side a bit and back her up so that she was facing the right way and had her legs under her. By sheer chance we were able to get the towel under her belly. Of course for a second we had Dave’s leg under her as well! Thank goodness not much of her weight was on his leg!

Once we had the towel under her belly, we tried lifting her rear end up. Two of us on each end of the towel. This didn’t work all that well, so we then got it behind her, sort of under her butt. Sheryl on one end of that towel, me on the other, Dave directly behind Patches using all his strength and his body too to help push her along, all of us slipping and sliding in the mud. Amy and Lisa were to her front, directing her toward the barn, motivating her with cantaloupe bribes , and keeping the other curious pigs away.

I wasn’t sure we’d be able to do it for a while, but then suddenly we got Patches standing up! Even then it was difficult, because the mud would suck us all in, and at the same time it gave us no purchase. She had a hard time lifting her feet out of the mud, but of course we were all having that problem. She slowly would take steps forward, and when we finally got to the area closer to the barn the ground was solid, our system collapsed, the towel slipped, and Patches was half laying down again.

We all rested and regrouped, and Patches was trying again before the rest of us. We quickly put our backs into helping her stand up, and damn if she wasn’t up and moving again in a heartbeat. Much easier on solid ground!

She got into the barn, mostly with Dave’s help by then, and laid down in a pile of hay, comfortable and dry again, and I’m sure quite exhausted. Her leg muscles were quivering from the exertion. So were the rest of ours.

I can’t remember the last time I have been so covered in mud! Dave actually had to change before finishing the rest of the chores with us.

Some people might hear this story and wonder how much Patches is suffering, or question the quality of her life. The truth is this: Patches has arthritis and she is on meds for that. She is not suffering, and normally she can get around, though with increasing difficulty. Her time is slowly drawing to a close, as all life does, but the end is not here yet, it is not yet her time. We’ll keep helping her, fighting with her and for her; getting muddy is nothing compared to what I would do to help these animals.

Patches on 12-25-2009.

Meanwhile, Terry was on her way to a vet hospital about 3 hours away. A cruelty case in NC where the animals were starving to death and living without shelter, where piglets had frozen into the mud and died, ended up with the judge giving all of the animals back to the person who neglected them so severely. A couple of them were sick enough that their “owner” considered them worthless and therefore allowed them to be rescued; after spending a week at the vets, those three are home now at Poplar Spring.

Helping Patches reminded me of helping Wilbur, back when he struggled so mightily to stand and walk. And both are testaments to the strength of will that we all have to survive. To live.

Edward The Magnificent

Edward

Edward was a neglect case. A woman had him as a pet in her backyard, and left him without food or water in the winter. She actually instructed her pet-sitter to not feed him. “He can just eat snow,” was the comment. The pet-sitter called the authorities to report the neglect, and Edward was rescued, and came to live at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary.

He’s quite the character, and in the winter through the spring, when he displays constantly, he tries to get the attention of various chickens (hens or roosters, he doesn’t seem picky!) and especially the guinea hen, Angie. He loves Angie, but alas, she pays no attention to him!

His dance is pretty interesting. You’ll see him shaking his tail feathers, which makes a little noise as well. He can also rattle all of his plumage, which has an interesting sound. Edward will turn in a circle, perhaps so we can see his dance from all angles! I don’t know what is the norm among peacocks, I only know what I’ve seen Edward do. Though there is now a second peacock, Arthur, living at the sanctuary; he’s younger than Edward, you can tell by the shorter tail, and so far I haven’t seen him display.

Arthur

Here is Edward’s dance:

The Izzy & Morty fan page…

It’s official: Izzy & Morty now have a fan page on facebook!

I gathered all the video and all the posts I’ve made here and added them to the page. Nice to have them all in one place! Thanks Kelly for putting the idea out there!

If there was an Izzy & Morty fan page on facebook, what would it be called?

Kelly mentioned that she thought they should have their own fan page, and it seemed like a great idea! All the videos in one place, etc etc. But I’m stuck. What should it be called? Seems like it needs a catchy name so that people see, “oh, Kelly just became a fan of something really clever sounding, I should go check it out!” And then they can learn about the amazing cuteness and pure luck of Izzy and Morty, to be saved instead of slaughtered.

Any ideas for a name? I hate coming up with names! Someone help me!

In the meantime, here’s their latest video (they were quite talkative last weekend!):

A tortilla chip post

did you know that bunnies like to play in the snow?

Tortilla chips are simply vehicles for salsa. And this post is a tortilla chip for the latest Izzy & Morty video salsa. So, a tortilla chip post.

The wind this week has stolen most of my thoughts, so I’m just going to post a few completely random links and pictures and the video.

I read “Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly” recently, and I posted about it over on Animal Rights & AntiOppression. Well, I posted about part of the book. It’s a bit much for just one post. I might post about the organic agriculture issue later. What I talked about in that particular post was the Locavore issue of Food Miles. And from a sustainability perspective, he decimates the “sustainable meat” argument. If you ever talk to Locavores, go read that post, and then go read his book. Or tell your Locavore friends to read his book.

we got a lot of snow a couple weeks ago!

More on the environmental ammunition side, Mary posted “On Soy, Soybeans and Mixed Messages“, which is a must-read if you’ve ever had a meat eater get on your case about the soy you eat and its connection to rainforest deforestation.

And Sea Shepherd’s “Bob Barker” has the whalers on the run!

Edward and his new buddy are getting along!

A few months ago, a great zine was published by Microcosm called Sick. “Sick collects peoples’ experiences with illness to help establish a collective voice of those impacted by illness within radical/left/DIY communities. The zine is meant to be a resource for those who are living with illness as well as those who have not directly experienced it themselves. Contributors discuss personal experiences as well as topics such as receiving support, providing support, and being an informed patient. These writings are meant to increase understandings of illness and further discussion as well as action towards building communities of care.”

wilbur shows us how to stay warm when it is cold

As it happens, a friend of mine was one of the contributors, with a great piece on living with migraines. I’ve had a lot of friends who have suffered from migraines, and it has made me very sensitive to a common misuse of the term by people who either don’t understand the difference between a migraine and a headache, or simply want to dramatize their own discomfort by claiming a migraine. That’s the least of it, though, and I found Brittany’s article to be a really good read.

The whole compilation was a good read; I recommend it to everyone.

penelope's secret smoking habit is revealed!

Avatar is a film that is getting a lot of attention and breaking a lot of records at the box office. It is also, apparently, a recruiting film for eco-terrorists! (Of course Hoot and Charlotte’s Web are both soft-core eco-terrorism films for kids. Good thing we have these eagle-eyed people keeping an eye out for dangerous radical ideas like, say, not completely destroying the earth! That can’t be a good thing. Right?)

And finally, the salsa: 1:33 minutes of Izzy and Morty:

Izzy & Morty post up at Animal Rights & AntiOppression

I never know who reads what blog, so if you read this blog, but not Animal Rights & AntiOppression, you’d probably hate to miss any updates on Izzy and Morty. Not that I had an update this time, so much as a recap of their 14 weeks in a 10 minute video.

Head on over to see it!

Izzy and Morty, Defying the Odds: A Story of Hope (and Cuteness!)

Lulu versions of PSAS 2010 calendars now available!

There are now three versions of this calendar, if you include the Cafepress version I posted about before.

The 2 Lulu versions (B&W and color) are now available for purchase through the following links (or the buttons in the right-hand column):

• B&W Version: http://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=8089674
• Color Version: http://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=7574427

Also, if you purchase by December 31, 2009, use the code ‘HUMBUG’ at checkout to get 10% off.

These are 13-month calendars, and the full preview is available on the Lulu site.

Thanks for looking!

2010 Poplar Spring calendars now available, more to come…

Above is the cover for the 2010 calendar. Click the picture to see a large version in which you can actually read the text.

As usual, it ends up being at the last minute…even though this year I started in August. Lulu has been my preferred print-on-demand calendar provider, and in some ways they still are. However this year I have struggled to deal with some color issues on the printed calendars (which seems to be a Lulu issue, since other print-on-demand services show the colors I expect!). I’ve let the project languish for long periods of time in my frustration.

And so it is that with the end of the year fast approaching, I have certain options to present.

The one that is actually for real done, is through Cafepress. I did a test print of this calendar, and both the print quality and color are excellent. I ordered it on Tuesday night, and it arrived Friday (Premium shipping), which surprised me in how fast it arrived. Cafepress is extremely limited, however. 12 months, and that’s it. I prefer the option of a 13-month calendar so that I can have an “extra” month with info on the sanctuary. For the Cafepress option, the sanctuary-info month is December. So be it. I also have no say in the holidays posted on the calendar.

I have two other test runs of calendars coming in next week through Lulu. One is a B&W calendar, which might or might not be appealing, depending on your taste. The second is my final attempt at jacking with the colors to get a decent print from Lulu. I won’t make the color calendar publicly available until I am convinced that it is worth making public. (For the record, others have said that the previous version’s colors are fine. I, however, wanted to throw up when I saw them. Regardless of my distaste, I did a print run so that we’d have the calendars in time for Poplar Spring’s Open House in October.)

If you have last year’s calendar, you know more or less what you’d be getting, just different pictures, of course. And, based on feedback, I’ve added short bits of text to the pictures so that the basic story of each animal is on the picture. It definitely adds to the advocacy potential, and I’ve had several people make it a point to tell me how much they feel it adds to the calendar to have these stories there.

Which is a damn good thing, because it was more work than you’d imagine to get the stories, do a draft, get feedback, get the alignment right, and on and on. Pain in the ass. But that’s okay, if it’s worth it, which it seems to be so far.

I’m posting this today, even though my preferred options (Lulu) have not been vetted and are not yet public because if anyone was wanting a calendar in time for the upcoming Friday holiday, you can order the Cafepress version by the midnight Sunday (Premium shipping) or noon Monday (1 day shipping), and be guaranteed to receive the calendar in time for Friday.

If anyone prefers the Lulu B&W version, and is willing to take a small risk (in that I haven’t seen my copy yet) and pay expedited shipping by 6pm EST on Monday to get it in time for Friday, let me know and I’ll make that version available.

If you’re like me and are habitually late with gifting deadlines, or if you’re getting it just for yourself / for the end of the year (especially if you have my calendar from last year, and thus have a handy January 2010 month on last year’s calendar), then you might as well wait for a few more days until I make the Lulu calendars public.

As I did last year, I’m not selling these at cost, so that I don’t undercut other calendar makers. However, all profits will be donated to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary.

Thanks for considering purchasing a PSAS calendar, especially given the last minute availability.

Change is afoot…

As many of you probably know, Stephanie is no longer blogging at change.org. She’s still blogging though, and has masterminded a new endeavor, Animal Rights & AntiOppression.

I’m excited about this for many reasons; one of the biggest is that it’s harder and harder for me to see Animal Rights as a stand-alone issue. It all runs together for me – social justice, environmentalism, animal rights…oppression is oppression is oppression, right?

Besides, to loosely paraphrase something I heard pattrice Jones say once, what’s the point in saving animals if you don’t save their home too?

So, intersections, commonality of oppression, it’s how I see issues and so as much as I enjoyed Stephanie’s Animal Rights focused blogging at change.org, I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy this new space even more.

Stephanie asked me and several others to join her, so I’ll be posting there too. In fact, I have a post up already! “Glimpsing the Future in Re-Wilded Chickens and Turkeys.”

A vet visit, a wonderful story, and carnism

Last week I had to take Tempest to the vet. She has a cough and it’s not going away easily or fast, but I have hope that it’s finally starting to show some improvement. But last Thursday I was at the vet to get her looked at. Worried, as we can’t help but to be, even when we think it’s probably a cold, and trying not to think of worst case scenarios.

I had a few minutes wait in the waiting room, and two dogs immediately came right up to me. Total sweethearts. “That’s Charlie and Max,” said the man holding their leash, and his love for them was practically visible in the air, it was that strong.

I sat there and just loved on them, and I would swear that they sensed my high emotions and were offering me their comfort. Their human seemed a little embarrassed at their behavior, but I didn’t see why he would be. They were very polite, and I certainly didn’t mind Charlie resting his head on my knees as I pet him! After a few minutes, their dad started talking to me. That typical joking “oh, you can tell they are horribly abused and neglected” that we seem to never tire of when faced with dogs who want nothing more than to meet and greet everyone. He had a third dog with him, who was sitting solidly between his feet. I asked about her, and he said that she actually had been abused, and so she was slow to warm up to people. I said that she didn’t seem scared, just wary, and who could really blame her? She was the smart one, really.

I asked how she came into his life, and he sort of lit up. He’d been at the dog park with Max(ine) and a woman who worked at a nearby shelter came in the park with this skin-and-bones dog who was shaking in fear. She’d been abused, found starving and wandering, and had gone to two homes where it just hadn’t worked out. And so this man, moved by her story and her need, took her in. He was apparently the right person for her, and I could hear what he wasn’t saying, that for him it was love at first sight. You could tell that Sarah took a lot of strength and comfort from the security he offered.

I felt so hopeful about people in this world after talking to Charlie, Max and Sarah’s human. It’s so nice to meet people who have that bond with the animals they care for, who love them so deeply and so clearly, and who help a starving and abused dog find stability and comfort for the rest of her life. But, I admit, there’s always that part of me that wants to know: why do people love their dogs and cats this deeply but still eat/kill/exploit other animals?

Melanie Joy would say that this is carnism. She has a book coming out soon, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism.

In her groundbreaking new book, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows, Melanie Joy explores the invisible system that shapes our perception of the meat we eat, so that we love some animals and eat others without knowing why. She calls this system carnism. Carnism is the belief system, or ideology, that allows us to selectively choose which animals become our meat, and it is sustained by complex psychological and social mechanisms.

Looks to be an interesting book. I have a lot of interesting books in my queue!