❀ The Good News ❀

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Stop watching the News on T.V. filled with lies, propaganda, and made to make you feel helpless and afraid.

With all the negative news in the world, it's time to give you hope and inspiration. It's time to the weekly Good News! 

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SeaWorld: Your Days of Holding Orcas Captive Might Be Numbered

Animal advocates are applauding the introduction of a groundbreaking bill that seeks to ban orca captivity in California and retire the state’s current residents to sea pens.

The bill, the Orca Welfare and Safety Act (AB 2140), was introduced by California Assembly member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), in response to the growing concerns about the inherent cruelty involved in confining an apex predator to a tank that were raised in the documentary Blackfish.

Since Blackfish made its debut, public awareness about the problems associated with keeping orcas in captivity has grown, and attitudes appear to be shifting in their favor, despite the industry’s continued rebuttals.

(Read more) 

Victory! Colorado Bans Greyhound Racing

Colorado made history by becoming the 39th state to ban dog racing when Governor John Hickenlooper signed a bill making it illegal in the state.

(Read more) 

Victory! South Dakota Ends Breed Discrimination 

In a victory for dogs and their advocates, South Dakota officially became the eighteenth state to pass a law against breed discrimination when the Governor Dennis Daugaard signed a bill that will make all breeds equal in the eyes of the law.

(Read more) 

Success! Oregon Town Rejects Breed-Specific Dog Bans

At the start of this year, the City Council of Medford, Ore., proposed a ban on pit bulls on the grounds that they are a dangerous breed. Care2 member Tyler Woodard considers his pit bull, Smokey, just like his son, so he started a Care2 petition to stop such a ban in its tracks. More than 8,600 Care2 members joined his fight and, two and a half months later, the Medford Police Advisory Committee has decided that it will not recommend any dangerous-dog ordinance that target specific breeds.

(Read more) 

Some Good News for Pit Bulls and Their Guardians

You don’t need to tell pit bulls (also affectionately known as pits, pitties or bullies) and their guardians that it’s a dog eat dog world. Pitties went from being America’s darling dog to vilified quasi-assault weapon status.

Thankfully, there is some great news to report: laws targeting pit bulls are softening around the country: In the U.S., eighteen states do not allow breed-specific bans in their communities; Six more states could soon follow; Certain cities are reconsidering labeling pit bulls as “dangerous animals”

(Read more) 

VICTORY! China Southern Airlines BANS Shipping of Monkeys to Labs!

Following an intense, three-year international PETA campaign, which included more than 100,000 calls and e-mails from supporters like you, China Southern Airlines announced in an e-mail to PETA this morning that it will "stop transporting live primates for laboratory experiments on all flights"—effective immediately!

60-Year-Old Dog Walker Stops Man from Throwing Baby Bunnies into River

If you found yourself in the right place at the right time, would you have the courage to stop a crime? One brave 60-year-old Englishwoman named Elle risked her own safety recently to save nine frightened baby bunnies who had been stuffed into a bag and were seconds away from being hurled into the river.

(Read more) 

How a 12-Year-Old Homeless Girl Helped More Than 400 Children Find Safer Shelter

The idea of having to navigate cockroaches, mice, no heat and sexual predators before you even leave for school is not something any child should go through. Yet, this is the daily life for hundreds of children living in two shelters in New York City and Brooklyn. They are part of the more than 22,000 children that make up New York City’s homeless population.

Now, after more than a decade of repeated citations for deplorable conditions, more than 400 children and their families are being moved from the city-owned facilities – all because of a determined 12-year-old girl.

(Read the story) 

Sorry, Monsanto. No GMO Corn South of the Border

Monsanto will have to wait awhile longer before it can contaminate Mexico’s countryside with its GMO corn. And thanks in part to the work being done by OCA’s Mexico-based sister network, Vía Orgánica, the Biotech Bully may never get the chance to destroy what has traditionally been a global haven for food crop biodiversity.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29548.cfm

Victory! San Francisco bans bottled water!

Thanks to members like you, San Francisco leads the way when it comes to protecting the tap. Months of working closely with city leaders and mobilizing members on the ground paid off earlier this month, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a historic ordinance making it the largest city in the country to phase out bottled water. This landmark action sets an exciting precedent for other cities and national parks to follow suit.

Success! Texas Won’t Destroy Historic Oak Trees

The oldest tree in Texas is 500-years-old, meaning that it’s not only older than the United States but has been standing in central Texas for longer than the plays of Shakespeare have existed. Yet the state of Texas’ Department of Transportation (Tx DOT) determined that this tree and a number of others had to be removed to build a new road through the small farming community of Snook. Care2 member Phyllis Tietjen — whose family has owned the property the trees are located on for almost 150 years — took action and started a Care2 petition not to destroy the trees. More than 68,000 members like you signed — and, in early March, the TxDOT announced it will reroute the planned highway bypass so as not to endanger the trees.

(Read more) 

Virginia is for Lovers Again as State Repeals its Sodomy Ban

Virginia’s General Assembly last week approved by unanimous vote a bill that would repeal the state’s sodomy ban, a provision that historically has been used to make being gay a crime.

Lawmakers voted 100 to 0 to approve language that will decriminalize non-commercial sodomy between consenting adults in private quarters. The move essentially repeals the state’s last overtly discriminatory elements of the Virginia Crimes Against Nature statute.

(Read more) 

Indiana’s Defense of Marriage Act Challenged 

Filed last week, a new federal lawsuit seeks to overturn Indiana state’s 2004 ban on marriage equality, otherwise known as Indiana’s Defense of Marriage Act (IDMA).

Currently, as well as not recognizing marriages within the state, the ban also deems void any same-sex marriages carried out in other states and, as the ban also covers civil unions, same-sex couples have absolutely no chance at any meaningful recognition for their relationships. The four couples behind the suit challenge that the IDMA therefore infringes on their 14th Amendment rights.

(Read more) 

5 Highlights from Michigan’s Groundbreaking Marriage Equality Ruling

Read them here: http://www.care2.com/causes/5-highlights-from-michigans-groundbreaking-marriage-equality-ruling.html#ixzz2xkwvEr1a

How One Woman Is Helping Empower Kenya’s Maasai Women

In the words of Beatrice Sisina Shanka, a 26-year-old community activist from the Inkinyie community. She works for Il’laramatak Community Concerns (ICC), a non-governmental organization that addresses human rights and development concerns of pastoralist (nomadic livestock herding) indigenous peoples of Kenya, with a focus on women and girls. 

Read the article here: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/3/empowering-kenyan-maasai-women#sthash.Olpv6hUa.dpuf

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Thanks for reading this week's "Good News!" Join us every week and feel inspired! 

Be sure to sign up for Care2's newsletter for some real news around the globe, to make a change, and to open up your mind to the Real World!

See that your actions count and get out there and do good! Be the Change!  

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.

❀ The Good News ❀

. . . . . . . . . . 

Stop watching the News on T.V. filled with lies, propaganda, and made to make you feel helpless and afraid.

With all the negative news in the world, it's time to give you hope and inspiration. It's time to the weekly Good News! 

. . . . . . . . . .

Aussie Activists Deploy $17,000 Drone to Spy on Factory Farms

An Australian animal rights group known as Animal Liberation is using a remote-controlled drone to keep tabs from the sky on industrial livestock operations. Factory farm owners in the Land Down Under don’t like that one little bit.

Animal Liberation used their new drone recently to shoot video above an egg farm in Dora Creek, New South Wales. The farm advertises itself as “free-range” and therefore gets a premium price for its eggs from cruelty-conscious consumers. Animal Liberation is investigating whether that “free range” claim is legitimate. It says it is providing the footage to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for further investigation.

(Read more) 

Onyx the Dog Catches on Fire Saving His Family, Now Recovering Thanks to the Love of Many

Onyx, a family’s 9-month-old pitbull, was doing what he could to alert his family–Trevor Myres, Sierra Plair and their two sons–that a fire had broken out. Myres rushed to the back patio where the fire had started and found Onyx on fire. He extinguished the flames on the dog with a hose, while the rest of the family evacuated safely.

The dog's calls were what possibly saved the family before the fires spread. 

Unfortunately, poor Onyx is in bad condition, with burns over 25 to 30 percent of his body and will require weeks of expensive treatment. The family tried to take him to Tallahassee animal hospital who said they could not treat Onyx because the family did not have enough money to take care of the costs. Luckily, the staffs at the Tallahassee-Leon County Animal Service Center and Northwood Animal Hospital had another idea. To raise money for Onyx’s treatment, Dr. Kevin Brumfield at Northwood began a Facebook campaign and set up a PayPal account where people could donate money. The original Facebook post was shared more than 1,000 times.

Sadly, this story is not over yet. Onyx was transported to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine for further treatment on September 29. Of course without the generous donations, Onyx’s family would not have been able to afford any of this.

Wishing Onyx a speedy recovery!!

(Read more) 

Puppy Rescued From Sweltering Car Trunk, Now Looking for a Loving Home

The two sharp-eyed students are almost certainly responsible for saving the life of a 5-month old puppy named Oakley in Fort Myers, Fla., after they observed one of their school’s teachers, Mathew Emans, open the trunk of his Mercedes, pull a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier out, walk it around for a bit, and then put it back into the trunk.

The incident happened at the Gateway Charter High School in Fort Myers. Appalled by what they’d seen, the students went immediately to a School Resource Officer, who determined that the car belonged to Emans.

The school called Lee County Domestic Animal Services (LCDAS) officials, which sent officers to the scene. Emans was instructed to open his trunk. Oakley was inside — alive, but panting desperately and without any water to drink.

Emans faces animal cruelty charges under Florida law, which may result in a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. It’s not clear whether he remains employed at the Gateway Charter High School. Emans surrendered Oakley to authorities at the scene. Oakley is now up for adoption at Lee County Domestic Animal Services in Fort Myers. May he find an owner who will treat him with the love and care he deserves.

(Read more) 

Anti-Elephant Poaching Billboard Debuts in NYC's Times Square!

A powerful, digitally animated billboard calling attention to the elephant poaching crisis in Africa, is taking over New York City's Times Square. The billboard, which you can view here, (http://www.marchforelephants.org/#!elephant-in-times-square-billboard/c8rl) includes audio and questions whether "a trinket is worth the price" of the massacre of elephants in order to fuel the insatiable global appetite for ivory.

The billboard is a crowd-funded campaign, spearheaded by March for Elephants—a grassroots advocacy group. The stunning graphic, which also bears the names of several organizations working to help elephants, including IDA, will be on display for the month of October, replaying every 2 minutes, 24-hours a day. This powerful message has the potential to reach millions of people at a time when African elephant populations are being decimated at record levels. It's estimated that poachers slaughtered 35,000 elephants last year—killing one elephant every 15 minutes. At that rate, some populations could be extinct in little more than 10 years.

Harp seal oil smugglers busted in L.A.!

A company that sells nutritional supplements, Nu-Health Products, and the husband and wife owners, Lin Liang and Denian Fu, were indicted for smuggling harp seal oil capsules into the U.S. This smuggling operation occurred for at least three years, from 2007 to 2010, before authorities discovered it and seized the contraband.

Nu-Health Products is alleged to have sold approximately 3,734,800 capsules of the seal oil, imported on October 9, 2008, and falsely described as ‘fish oil soft capsules’.

Seal oil is a secondary product of the seal slaughter but illegal and legal sales of this product around the world still help to perpetuate the brutal slaughter of seals in Canada.

We commend NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Attorney's Office, Environmental Crimes Section, for vigorously pursuing this case. We urge all seal activists to keep an eye out for seal oil capsules in health food stores and Asian groceries and on the internet.

Longtime Women’s Rights Activists Tell Ohio “We Won’t Go Back”

“We won’t go back!”

That was the message from the hundreds of Ohioans who rallied at the state capitol Wednesday, demanding that the Republican legislature and GOP Governor John Kasich stop legislating women’s bodies.

The rally came just a few days after the Democrats in the state house introduced a bill that would undo the myriad of attacks on reproductive health that were passed as amendments to the state’s last budget bill, many of which were added last minute and without any hearings or debate.

Among the restrictions on reproductive health being addressed by the proposed bill would be a repeal of the defunding of Planned Parenthood, a gag order on rape crisis centers forbidding them to refer to organizations that offered abortion services, a “transfer agreement” protocol for abortion clinics that could close many, and has already closed both clinics in Toledo, and a mandatory ultrasound prior to a termination.

The Wednesday rally was organized by 50 women’s groups and professional organizations, including the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) and the National Organization for Women (NOW). Both Ellie Smeal, president of the FMF, and Terry O’Neill, president of NOW, spoke at the event, urging Ohioans to continue to fight and telling them that they aren’t alone.

(Read more) 

Power Up Solar Style at IKEA!

IKEA will start selling solar panels, and much to the relief of everyone who’s ever put together a piece of furniture from the Swedish giant, the company is also providing installation. No muss, no fuss and hey presto, renewable energy!

The company has already gone solar itself with panels on its stores across the world to meet the substantial daily energy needs of a facility with a giant footprint, lots of lighting and long operating hours. It hopes to have 100% of its energy needs independently met by 2020. That was a great first step for the company, which has also worked in the past on initiatives like securing environmentally-friendly supply chains for its wood products. Now, it wants to extend the benefit to customers with affordable solar panels, underscoring the fact that solar energy is getting more affordable, and ubiquitous, than ever before.

In less than a year, IKEA hopes to have panels on offer at all of its UK stores, which is a great pilot project for something we hope will roll out elsewhere too.

(Read more) 

Rita the Dog was Snatched Out of the Hands of the Grim Reaper

Rita was found in the street, her soul tucked inside bone and skin and organs that had gone long past thirsting for life. In the picture above, it’s difficult to believe both photos are of the same dog, but they are. The victim of near starvation here in Romania, a good samaritan rushed Rita to the Maoland Shelter, a mother and daughter run rescue center caring for 400 dogs with the barest of resources. With tears in their eyes, the women of Maoland took in little Rita, although they had little hope of saving her. After all, they had no buildings, no running water, no electricity. Their ‘shelter’ is simply a large plot of land and some makeshift kennels and fencing for the dogs.

But fate kissed Rita on the forehead that day as a member of the UK group known as K-9 Angels came across Maoland’s appeal on Facebook, begging for someone to come and save Rita. After shaking off the disbelief that the dog they were looking at was actually still alive, the angels jumped into action. In the middle of the night, volunteer Raluca Simion drove to Maoland to bring Rita to the veterinary clinic. And though few would have bet on Rita pulling through, this dog is full of surprises.

Under the care of K-9 Angels, her transformation has been remarkable as she’s grown and grown, putting on fur and fat, muscle and might. No one could have imagined she’d come out of that patch of dirt alive. And yet here she is today.

(Read more) 

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Thanks for reading this week's "Good News!" Join us every week and feel inspired! 

Be sure to sign up for Care2's newsletter for some real news around the globe, to make a change, and to open up your mind to the Real World!

See that your actions count and get out there and do good! Be the Change!  

If you found this article to be helpful, please consider a small donation or visit the shop. Thank you for your love and support.