"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace."
-Albert Schweitzer
COMPASSION AND ACTIVISM FOR ANIMALS
About
MISSION STATEMENT:
Nashville Animal Advocacy is dedicated to promoting animal rights and veganism in Tennessee through education, research, special events, protests and legislation.
ABOUT US:
Nashville Animal Advocacy's mission is to spread awareness about the plight of animals used for food, fashion, sport, entertainment, testing and research. Our society has reduced animals to mere commodities, leading to their horrific suffering and a loss of life numbering in the trillions. Our fundamental goal is education on the injustices that each of us, individually, have the ability to reverse and end. We promote an ethical vegan philosophy and the right to live, free from harm, for every sentient animal.
Nashville Animal Advocacy originally began as a Meetup.com group in 2012 by Laura Levy. When Laura moved from Nashville, she passed her responsibilities to Tricia Lebkuecher, who had been co-organizing since 2013. Tricia met her soon-to-be co-organizer, Amy Pruett in 2014 at a Ringling Bros. Circus protest. Amy and Tricia had made the decision to build the Meetup group into a non-profit organization for more effective activism.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we facilitate vegan outreach at many festivals in Middle Tennessee, host volunteer days at animal sanctuaries, advocate for humane legislation and hold protests and rallies against the use of animals in food, fashion, medical training and entertainment.
Our organization's management team is vegan; they work on a volunteer basis--and all are loving care-givers of adopted rescue animals. Our collective hope is that someday the world will be a safe and happy place for everyone, humans and animals alike.
Be sure to join our social Meetup group, Nashvegans.
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Appreciate the beauty and diversity of animals.
We must begin to recognize and respect the sentience of all animals and end our contribution to their exploitation. Animals play a crucial role in their ecosystems. They form close relationships, they have favorite foods, they fear danger, and they value their lives and well-being. Animals are no different than humans in the ways that truly matter.
October 2nd is World Day for Farmed Animals. The purpose is to raise awareness for the nearly 3 TRILLION animals who are farmed and slaughtered needlessly, given that we can make compassionate choices. Farming animals for their flesh, milk, eggs, honey, skin, fur, fleece, or feathers is extremely barbaric. There are ethical and sustainable vegan versions of every product that make exploiting, commodifying, and violently killing animals completely unnecessary.
October 4th is World Animal Day. Designed to help improve the status and welfare of all animals; wild, marine, domestic, farmed, captive, and every animal in-between. Every living being has the right to live without threat from humans, and we must afford animals the moral consideration they deserve. As much as humans like to distance themselves from the natural world, we simply can't. We are interconnected with our living planet. We can, however, choose respect, understanding, and support of every living being.
Living VEGAN is the biggest decision we can make to help protect animals and our natural world.
PITBULL AWARENESS MONTH
Pitbulls can not "lock" their jaws. They are not an inherently vicious breed. They do not want to fight - despite how some scoundrels have cruelly exploited the breed in illegal dog fighting.
According to the American Temperament Test Society, Pitbulls rank 4th out of 122 breeds, in terms of most affectionate and least aggressive dog breeds. Pitbulls were once called “nanny dogs” because of their calm temperament with children.
Pitbulls have the biggest and best smiles. Just as any other breed of dog, they are loving, playful, intelligent and intrinsically want to be a part the pack.
Pitbulls and pitbull mixes are the most common breed in shelters, due to uninformed or irresponsible guardianship, spay and neuter expense, lack of access to affordable spay clinics or the weird myth of dogs "losing their manhood." Shelters and Rescues have many wonderful bully breeds in need of loving homes. Go adopt your new best friend or become a foster to help make more space for rescues to save more lives. Your heart will thank you!
October is Pitbull Awareness Month, celebrating the goofy, blockhead bully breeds that we love and welcome into our families, and addressing the misconceptions and stigmas surrounding the Pitbull type breeds.
SAVE THE MONARCH
Monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration of any insect species; wintering in Central Mexico, then migrating thousands of miles north into the US and Southern Canada, breeding along the way.
Monarch butterflies contribute to the health of our planet as vital pollinators. Planting milkweed in your yard is beneficial as monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed leaves.
Tennessee residents can visit tnpollinators.org to order free milkweed seeds from TDOT to plant in the fall.
LEAVE THE LEAVES
The Autumnal Equinox signifies the forthcoming shorter days, crisp air, harvest, pumpkin spice everything, and our favorite, the spooky season of Halloween. This is also the time many animals are busy with overwinter preparation by storing food, building fat reserves, restoring shelters, and searching for a mate.
Hang up the rake, fallen leaves are beneficial to wildlife and the ecosystem. As leaves decay, they provide valuable nutrients to boost the soil.
Fallen leaves play an integral role with food, warmth, and shelter for lots of animals, so help them by leaving the leaves instead of raking them. Please be mindful of their important survival activities.
RULES FOR HOWL-O-WEEN
Have a fright night buddy
Be mindful not to scare wildlife
Keep companion animals secure inside
Stock up on lots of vegan candy
Provide plenty of spook factor
Festive Halloween decorations are fun to see, but some can become a death trap for animals. Birds, insects, deer, bats, squirrels, raccoons, etc. can become entangled in fake spiderwebs, unable to free themselves. Be mindful of wildlife when decorating the outside of your house for Halloween.
To preserve your carved Halloween pumpkins, try a vinegar and water [1:10] rinse instead of bleach, which can harm animals. Pumpkins are mighty tasty to many a wildlife, and they may be tempted to take a nibble or two. You can skip any preservation need by carving pumpkins a couple of days before Halloween to be ready for the trick-or-treaters.
Make a plan to keep your animals safe and secure indoors. Keep any candy out of animal's reach as it could make them sick. Don't allow animals near the door with trick-or-treaters, which can frighten and cause them to bolt out of the door during Halloween festivities.
Have a safe and spooky All Hallow's Eve. Happy haunting!
Before you light that fuse consider who may be harmed by fireworks. Humans, animals and the environment can be devastated by the loud explosions and toxic debris. In the right conditions, fireworks can even start forest fires.
Animals in zoos and aquariums have to endure the added anxiety on top of the everyday stress that captivity causes when these institutions use fireworks during special events to bring in more visitors.
Wildlife can panic and run in fear, abandoning their young to suffer starvation, or running into traffic to meet their tragic fate. Birds become disorientated leading them to fly into homes and buildings causing mass casualties. The toxic debris left in the environment can cause entanglement and poisoning of our waterways and the animals who live there.
Companion animals are affected by the scary noises of fireworks as well. Be sure to keep your animals inside; create a safe hiding place for them to feel comfortable, experiment with a calming shirt, turn on music or the TV to help drown out the scary noises, leash walk and keep fence gates securely latched, make sure they are microchipped and tagged in the event they do escape and run, and in severe cases, ask your vet about prescribing an anxiety medication.
Some of the busiest intakes at shelters and wildlife rehabilitators are in the days and weeks following a celebration using fireworks. Support these organizations by donating, volunteering or fostering to help them continue helping our wild and companion animal friends.
Fireworks are a cause of stress, fear, anxiety and death for so many animals and people. Please celebrate compassionately and responsibly.
