Welcome 
to the Animal Advocates

and Animal Allies 
Blog Site!!  

This blog was created by college students and me to help raise awareness about animal cruelty, give ways to help, and show cruelty-free alternatives.

Please share this blog with whomever.  The only way things can change is for people to know about the atrocities that actually occur.  

Progress is made every day, so there is hope yet!

*Melissa Norbeck 

For information, petitions, ways to help, cruelty-free products, and much much more, check out and "Like":

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Animal-Allies-of-Salem-Community-College/468696953151656?ref=hl

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gloucester-County-College-Animal-Advocates-Club/141230895918451?ref=hl

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Arbonne-International/189540471200584?ref=hl

 OVER THE TOP CRUELTY

Thinking about going to the circus this month 
or any time?
Well, here's some information for you first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzAbpg4kXOI

http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/

http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/bound-babies.asp

http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/about-whistleblower.asp

http://animalrights.about.com/b/2009/07/22/ringling-beats-animals.htm

http://www.care2.com/causes/new-evidence-that-ringling-beats-elephants.html

I think it's definitely time to start rewarding companies that are doing the right thing and not the ones that take the cheap, greedy way out by using fillers AND testing on defenseless animals, especially when animal testing for skincare and nutrition products is outdated and NOT necessary!

As an animal lover, I do care if the products I use were tested on animals or not.  And if you don't care about that, you may care about all the harmful ingredients you're putting in/on your body every day.  Many products are pumped with fillers that are dangerous to our health, not to mention gross with all the animal by-products.  That definitely can’t be good for us now or in the long run!  And if you don't care about that, then I'm sure you care about spending $$$ on items that don't even work!

Arbonne International has a real humane way of doing business...something I don't see from many companies, especially in this world where animals are looked at as profit. 
Arbonne offers over 400 cruelty-free items (10 different lines of products) from nutrition to anti-aging to sun care and much more!!
There is something for everyone.

Joining Arbonne can also be a wise choice, whether you're a college student, a working woman, a businessman, a stay-at-home mom, etc...
If you're tired of working for someone else or being broke or working long hours or driving an annoying commute or hardly seeing your kids, then email me, and I'll show you how to make full-time money working part-time hours!!
MelissaNorbeck@gmail.com 

There are so many ways you can benefit!!

Click on the link below to check out the companies that test on animals:

Companies that DO test on animals 

Sign these two petitions to help end animal testing:
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-animal-testing-replace-animals-in-research-with-non-animal-alternative-methods

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/end-animal-suffering-now


*Melissa Norbeck

Arbonne Independent Consultant

ID# 19276780

www.Arbonne.com

The Fur Industry

"A fox being electrocuted for its fur."

http://fur.elehost.com/

Watch the clip below to see what happens 

to dogs and cats in China.  Unreal!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gx8qFYhdbo&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D4%26ved%3D0CDsQFjAD%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%253D7Gx8qFYhdbo%26ei%3D4jIiT8a9B6bu0gHwsfnoCA%26usg%3DAFQjCNEawC7P8YiPjYHbNxIQ9cAJLiBSdA%26sig2%3DoQRbNAr4VW2iQcNIpnX0mw&has_verified=1

http://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/stop-the-fur-trade/

Could you imagine this being your dog??  Many of these dogs are peoples' pets, and they're stolen and killed for their fur.

Don't buy fur or items with fur trim, like coats, collars, pocketbooks, and boots.  Most likely if the fur is real, you'll know it by the price, and many times the items are mislabeled saying the fur is jackal or something else, but in reality it's dog or cat.  You really don't know what you're getting!!

Sign the petitions below to help end fur farms and trapping; If you can't click on the link, just copy & paste it into the address bar:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/265/446/562/
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/stop-the-dog-and-cat-fur-trade/
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ban-fur-farms-in-hebei-province.html
http://wolfarmy.net/petition/ban-trapping-on-public-and-federally-owned-land/


*Melissa

Is There Blood in Your Boots?

It’s hard to tell how many people actually wear Uggs, but we can say for sure there are a lot!!  Unfortunately, most people do not know of the horrific way these boots are made.

Here’s some info; you can make your own decision whether you think the cruelty is worth the “fashion” statement.  Ugg boots are made from sheep who were castrated without painkillers or who have their throats cut.  Personally, I think the boots are Ugg-ly, but that's just my opinion.  Plus there are plenty of alternatives to Uggs and other cruelty-based items.  

Pamela Anderson, who was basically the poster girl for Uggs, announced she will never wear Uggs again now that she learned how they are made:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255145,00.html

And the fake Uggs are made from raccoon dogs who are skinned alive.  Check out the site below, but beware the content is pretty graphic:

http://protection4animals.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/raccoon-dogs-skinned-alive-in-china/

Could you imagine if that were you locked in a cage waiting to be skinned alive?!  No way!  Unimaginable!  I'm sure the raccoon dog felt just as scared.

Cruelty-free boots and shopping guide:

http://www.veganchic.com/default.aspx

http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.htm
http://www.leapingbunny.org/shopping.php
http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/order-cruelty-free-shopping-guide.aspx

*Melissa

Politics vs. Animal Rights

Do you care at all where your potential

Presidents stand on animal rights issues?

When voting this year, it may not be the only thing to go by, but you can tell a lot about people by the way they treat animals!!

These two sites give you a breakdown on each candidate; see who has the worst record!

http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2011/12/gop-presidential-candidates.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pets/GOP-candidates-.html

*Melissa

PETITIONS = VICTORY!!

Signing petitions is one way to help animals get justice (if there is such a thing), and it's an effective way to make sure people get the maximum penalty allowed by law.  I think animal cruelty, even though taken more seriously now than before, is still not taken seriously enough! People get a slap on the wrist for unspeakable, horrific crimes.

Really, I feel if someone murders an animal, he/she should go to jail just as if murdering a person.  In a way, it's even worse because the animal is  helpless and defenseless.  

Plus, there's a known correlation between those who kill and torture animals and those who kill and/or torture people, such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Son of Sam, the DC Sniper, Ted Bundy, and too many more.

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4565
URGENT!! HELP STOP BULL TORTURE FESTIVAL IN MEXICO:
Every year on February 1 in Tlacotalpan—a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz—bulls are horrifically tortured during the Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria festival. Liquor is poured down the bulls' throats, and the animals are tied to boats and dragged across a river before being set loose in the streets. Participants then chase, beat, and stab the terrified animals with bats and knives. The torture continues for hours as drunken residents throw bricks and trash at the animals, kick and punch them, and cut off their ears. Surviving bulls are then turned out to pasture, no doubt left to suffer from their injuries. 

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2063
HELP STOP CIRCUS CRUELTY:
In their native homelands, the animals you see in circuses are free to walk and run, choose lifetime companions, and raise their families. Tragically, these animals are held captive by circuses such as Ringling Bros. and are forced to perform confusing acts night after night for 48 to 50 weeks every year. In order to get these animals to perform stressful acts, Ringling trainers use whips, sticks, and bullhooks with metal tips that are jabbed into elephants’ sensitive skin on their thighs and behind their ears. Between acts, elephants are kept chained up like bicycles or confined to cramped pens, and tigers are stored in cages that are barely even large enough for them to turn around.

https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=471

TELL WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY TO STOP INHUMANE DOG EXPERIMENTS:

Let Allan Gilmour, president of Wayne State University, know you want him to immediately halt the use of dogs in the university's inhumane heart experiments.  Wayne State University’s ongoing use of dogs in heart failure experiments is cruel and should be stopped before any more dogs suffer.  Dogs in these experiments experience severe unrelieved pain and distress.  Wayne State University should focus on advancing human-based research, such as epidemiological studies, clinical trials, and computer modeling.

http://www.capwiz.com/wspausa/mailapp/
ASK REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS TO SUPPORT THIS BILL:
One of the worst industrial farming abuses is the confinement of hens to barren battery cages, where hens are crammed together with little room to move – let alone flap their wings. Congress is currently considering ground-breaking, bi-partisan legislation that will outlaw the most restrictive and barren battery cages and vastly improve the welfare of egg-laying hens in the U.S.
Using this link, you can contact your Representative and Senators to politely urge them to support HR 3798/S 3239 - the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/405/015/443/send-worlds-loneliest-elephant-to-thailand/
SEND THE WORLD'S LONELIEST LION TO THAILAND:
Mali the elephant has spent 33 lonely years in a concrete pen in the Philippines, and it's killing her. But still the government won't allow her to go to a better place.
Torn from her family at age three, she was sent to Manila as a gift to then-President Ferdinand Marcos. She has since lived three decades of her life at the capital city's zoo isolated from other elephants, with only a small pool for entertainment. She suffers from severe depression and damage to her feet, the leading cause of death to zoo elephants.

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3911&utm_campaign=1211+21+Airlines+shipping+Monkeys+AA&utm_source=peta2+Email&utm_medium=E-news#.TvNE4k5ECr0.facebook

ASK AIRLINES TO STOP SHIPPING MONKEYS TO BE TORTURED: 

Monkeys were hooked to their cages with a metal tether through which ice-cold saline solution and test chemicals were continuously dripped into their veins.  Workers handled monkeys so violently that the animals suffered from bloodied noses, broken fingers and toes, and bruises to their bodies.  Monkeys were tied for many hours in restraint chairs with their arms and legs kept entirely immobile as drugs were injected intravenously over the course of a day.  The traumatized monkeys are crammed into small wooden crates and transported in the backs of trucks and in the dark and terrifying cargo holds of airplanes, often on passenger flights just below unsuspecting customers. 

https://www.change.org/petitions/tell-mastercard-stop-supporting-the-live-dolphin-trade#

TELL MASTERCARD: STOP SUPPORTING THE LIVE DOLPHIN TRADE:

Ask Mastercard to end their promotion with RWS and send a strong message to the resort that kidnapping wild dolphins isn't acceptable. Tell them to do business with other theme parks and stop promoting the live dolphin trade.

Sign more petitions or start your own at:
http://www.change.org/
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.peta2.com/

*Melissa 

Animal Testing!

Companies that DO NOT test on animals:

http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf

Companies that DO test on animals:

http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf

How do your products measure up?
You'll be surprised!!

EARTHLINGS

Want to watch a movie that will forever change the way you think and most likely the way you live your life?


I wholeheartedly feel that EVERYONE is obligated to watch this documentary for many different reasons.  You need to know what is really going on in the world in which we live.  You owe it to yourself to learn what is being done for the sake of food, clothing, sport, entertainment, and much more.

You will be surprised, shocked, and appalled.

Although tough to watch at times, 
we also owe it to our fellow earthlings.

Please check out the links below where you can watch the trailer and/or the movie for free. 

"Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, EARTHLINGS chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit."

Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix

http://www.earthlings.com/

http://veg-tv.info/Earthlings

*Melissa