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(From ASPCA) Winter’s chill may have settled in your neighborhood, but your energetic pooch still wants to go for walks in the great outdoors. Take it slow and steady, pet parents. According to our experts, the danger of stray voltage on city streets can turn a simple stroll into a devastating event for our furry friends.

Most common in northern climes and urban areas, stray voltage occurs when dormant utilities leak excess electricity. Combined with wet streets and salt-based ice melts, this current can shock, injure or even prove fatal for those in its path. “Since salt used to treat icy streets is a great conductor of electricity,” says Dr. Louise Murray, ASPCA Director of Medicine and author of Vet Confidential, “the risk of shock from stray voltage is that much higher during the winter months.” The ASPCA offers the following tips to help you avoid potentially hazardous areas, and advice on what to do if your pet has suffered an electrical shock:

Keep your dog away from metal fixtures, such as lampposts, grates or manhole covers. While these spots may be your pet’s favorite place to relieve himself, they may also conduct hazardous electricity.

Your dog’s snazzy, rubber rain boots may look good, but they won’t protect your pooch from a strong current. Don’t depend on them to keep your pet safe. Some boots—those with metal studs, for example—may even make the situation worse.

Observe your dog’s behavior. Is he skittish, frightened, angry or upset for no apparent reason? These sudden behavioral changes could be an indication of electric shock.

If your dog is incapacitated due to shock, don’t try to touch or move him without protective gear. Your pooch may pass the current to you, rendering you both incapable of seeking help. Instead, call your local fire department immediately.

Fur – whether a full-length coat or trim on a jacket or gloves or toys;

Leather (animal skin)

Wool

Down

Products tested on animals. You can learn what companies do NOT test on animals by going to peta2.com and looking for their list of cruelty-free companies and products.

Why not fur? Because fur is obtained by killing animals – and in very painful ways. Some animals are caught in steeljaw, leghold traps, which shut on their limbs with brutal force, and the animal may suffer for days before finally being killed by the trapper. Other animals are confined to small, filthy cages on fur farms, where they can go insane from boredom and fear and even self-mutilate. Death is often done by anal electrocution. And then there are the seals who are clubbed to death.

Why not leather? Besides coming from some wild animals (such as deer), leather comes from the skin of cows, calves, horses, sheep, lambs, goats, pigs and even dogs and cats (this may be the case if the product comes from Asia). Almost all these animals suffer confinement, crowding, branding, as well as unanesthetized castration, dehorning and tail-docking.

Why not wool? Much wool comes from Australia, where sheep are kept in huge flocks and are cut (without anesthesia) around the tail area to prevent infestation with blowflys. The shearing process is done with such speed and force (given the large number of animals) that the sheep suffer cuts and experience fear.

Why not down? Down is plucked painfully from living ducks and geese.

Besides choosing gifts which avoid the above cruelties, you could even take a positive step to help animals by giving a gift which promotes healthy, compassionate eating – such as a gift certificate to Strong Hearts Cafe.

Strong Hearts Cafe is a popular all-vegan restaurant in Syracuse and offers sandwiches salads, soups, shakes, tea, coffee and fabulous desserts. See
strongheartscafe.com

(By Lou De Santis) November 28th is Fur Free Friday, an event that began over twenty years ago in this country and is now observed throughout the world. By the 1990’s, after exposing the brutality of fur production, animal advocates had succeeded in making the wearing of fur taboo in the eyes of many people. Recently, to counter this, department stores have been promoting clothing with fur collars and trim that consumers mistakenly believe is made from scraps of leftover fur. In reality, animals suffer and die for each article, whether fur-trimmed or full length. And that death is not pretty.

In the U.S., nearly four million animals are caught in traps where they suffer for days before trappers break their necks or even bludgeon them to death. Throughout the world, an estimated 45 million animals will spend their lives in small cages on”fur farms”. These animals’ short, miserable lives are ended by such cruel methods as gassing, neck-breaking and anal-electrocution. In China, where most of the West’s fur comes from, animals such as foxes, raccoons, cats and dogs are, unbelievably, skinned alive.

Fur trimmed items are now a half-billion dollar industry. The number of animals killed for fur trim is soon expected to overtake those killed for full-fur garments.

The holidays are meant to be a time of peace and kindness. Shouldn’t that compassion extend to our fashion decisions?

(By Lou De Santis) November 28th is Fur Free Friday, an event that began over twenty years ago in this country and is now observed throughout the world. By the 1990’s, after exposing the brutality of fur production, animal advocates had succeeded in making the wearing of fur taboo in the eyes of many people. Recently, to counter this, department stores have been promoting clothing with fur collars and trim that consumers mistakenly believe is made from scraps of leftover fur. In reality, animals suffer and die for each article, whether fur-trimmed or full length. And that death is not pretty.

In the U.S., nearly four million animals are caught in traps where they suffer for days before trappers break their necks or even bludgeon them to death. Throughout the world, an estimated 45 million animals will spend their lives in small cages on”fur farms”. These animals’ short, miserable lives are ended by such cruel methods as gassing, neck-breaking and anal-electrocution. In China, where most of the West’s fur comes from, animals such as foxes, raccoons, cats and dogs are, unbelievably, skinned alive.

Fur trimmed items are now a half-billion dollar industry. The number of animals killed for fur trim is soon expected to overtake those killed for full-fur garments.

The holidays are meant to be a time of peace and kindness. Shouldn’t that compassion extend to our fashion decisions?