L.B (little bunny)

We lost another family member here at Snooters today....L.B. our bunny passed away suddenly this afternoon. She was fine yesterday & came out for breakfast this morning but by dinner time had died in her stall. We have no idea how old she was. ;(

L.B. came to live with us about 7 years ago. I was working the night shift in Toronto & about 2am came back to the station to see this little creature sitting beside my car in the parking lot. I walked up to this little one fully expecting her to bolt away but instead she hopped right up to me! I put her in the washroom for the rest of the night & home we came the following morning! L.B. has lived with us ever since. She was a sweet little girl & I will miss her excitement over the ginger cookie she got everyday at breakfast! RIP little one....

Pig Lovers Visit

Yesterday was a cold but sunny day here at Snooters. We had some old friends & new friends come to visit us here. It is always so nice to get together with people who are true animal lovers!

The "new" friends came to us via our web site. They have shown interest in coming out to volunteer in the spring!

They met all the gang, some more behaved than others (the pigs , not the people!) Poppy decided to bite mittens...she is always hoping there is a hidden treat in them!

Some very much appreciated donations of blankets, apples & Home Depot gift cards!!!

The "old" friends are fellow pig people! Marianne & Ben have a sanctuary north of us , Kim & Roy have 5 pigs & Kim is the networking extraordinaire & Kristi is our dear friend, wealth of pig knowledge & who we have gotten several of our factory farm rescues from...affectionately known as our "pig pusher" !

It is always nice to see everyone !

Seal Hunt/Sea Shepherd

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100114-1.html

R.I.P. our beautiful Katie

We heard about Katie from some people (Sue & Jim) who volunteered at a cat rescue/sanctuary in Pickering. They said this pig had been dumped at the cat rescue & had to be place elsewhere. Brian & I went out to see her . There was this very obese, fat blind potbellied pig. She was aggressive, her urine looked like custard & a huge "tumor" looking thing hanging down between her legs. We looked at each other & thought we would give her a try.

She came to live here about 7 yrs ago, recovered from her UTI, lost 80lbs, gained a little sight back & that "tumor" was nothing more than a large fat sack (perhaps she had babies in her past life?).

The night she came here she was very frightened & therefore aggressive...we didn't have her house in place yet so we put in a large dog-a-loo for shelter...she would have no part of it! In the middle of the night it began to storm, and I mean storm!! Thunder, lightening, wind & torrential rain. It woke me up & I thought how this poor frightened new family member must be feeling. I put on my rain gear , grabbed an umbrella & went out to sit with her. Initially she was trying to attack me but I talked to her & she settled down....we both sat threw the storm together under the umbrella & became fast friends because of it.

Over 2 years she lost about 80 lbs & could actually see a little bit. In the summer she loved to go out in the big paddock area for her "walk-a-abouts", eating grass & sunning herself. Katie was 15 years old !

I will miss her so much. She had a good life here with us & in turn enriched our lives with her presence. All our animals are special but some hold an extra special part in our hearts...Katie was one of those to me. I love you Kate... XXXOO

A lovely poem written & sent to us by Janice Gillett of "Hearts on Noses" pig sanctuary in BC

One more day

Spring is just around the corner , you can’t leave today

Winter is almost over, and summer is on the way

I wanted you to feel the sun, for just one more day

I had been making plans for us, it is what I do

A new blanket, add some straw and fix a fence or two

I just saw you yesterday and had been talking to you

I wasn’t ready , we hadn’t finished what we were going to do

That’s your house , your dish and your nest and I am missing you.

I wish that you were here right now , for just one more day

We had things to do..

Elephants at the Toronto Zoo

Please read & forward...important info!!

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/750009--tusk-tusk-toronto-is-on-worst-zoo-list

News from the Sea Shepherd

posted by Jo-Anne McArthur aboard the SS Bob Barker..

January 7th, 2010
Update from the Antarctic

click to enlarge

I've had to keep everything confidential until now because I've been on Sea Shepherd's secret vessel, the M/Y Bob Barker, which is a 50-yr old Norwegian whaling ship of all things. It was purchased in Africa and refitted by SS volunteers, which was our port for over a month while the boat was fixed up and brought back to life. Yep, Bob Barker bought Sea Shepherd a ship!

Donated all the money ($5,000,000) for the ship and fix-up as well, and all of associated expenses. Amazing. He is AMAZING.

The regular SS ship, the Steve Irwin, departed from Australia as usual for the Antarctic campaign to stop the Japanese whaling fleet. After years of being harassed by SS, they decided to ramp up their security etc. The Irwin left Australia w/ a tail, one of the Japanese ships. The fleet also added two "security" ships to their fleet, whose goal is to shut us down, basically, and keep an eye on us so that the Irwin's coordinates could be sent back to the factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, and they could continue to evade the Irwin.

SS added the Ady Gil to their campaign this year (the "Earthrace", a small sexy boat, named after Ady Gil who donated it to SS) and made a big media stink about it.

The Bob Barker left Mauritius on December 17th, still undetected and a surprise for the Japanese whalers.

Finally in Antarctic territory, the Irwin got a call from, of all things, a cruise ship, which had sighted the fleet. The expedition leader is apparently a fan of SS and knew the Irwin and the Ady Gil were searching for the whaling fleet. The coordinates of the Nisshin Maru were then sent to us, and of we went to find 'em.

Find 'em we did, and we've been in a bit of a battle ever since. Our cover was finally exposed so we're only now able to write about it, and it's all over the media: SS' third vessel!

The Nisshin caught on quickly that we were an SS ship, and sent their harpoon and security ships to tail us. By this morning (2am), we were surrounded by 4 harpoon ships that would take turns maneuvering closely around us and forcing us to reduce speed while the Nisshin Maru moved away. They sped towards bad weather, which slowed us considerably. We deployed one of our small boats and roughed it in horrible weather before turning back to the Barker. All this before 9am!

Things were looking hairy, but the Ady Gil appeared and buzzed around the Nisshin like an annoying bug, delaying their progress north and throwing stinky and organic cocktails which would possibly taint the meat on board, or coming on board. This was all w/in sight and we were thrilled to have company on our mission, finally! After a few hrs the Ady Gil came by our boat to say goodbye. The 6 crewmembers were all on deck, waving, and we all hooted and cheered at each other. Within moments, a harpoon ship changed course and went straight for the Ady Gil, turning on their water cannons, LRADs (long rang acoustic devices) and charging the boat before they could move out of the way. Incredibly, they actually rammed the Ady Gil, which ripped off the entire bow of the boat.

We called immediate Mayday. The Ady Gil continued to float, and we were able to deploy our small boats and go to their rescue. Had they been rammed a few meters towards the center of the boat, the 6 crewmembers would have perished (from being crushed, or from hypothermia).

The day has been a long one of rescues, media, and a billion things. We've been picking up the scraps of the Ady Gil all day, and we're now towing its remnants while we decide next steps.

We are hoping that the ship that rammed us will be brought up charges for attempted murder. All remains to be seen.

"Sea Shepherd" is one of the top 30 Google searches around the world right now. We're doing tons of interviews.

Perhaps the Ady Gil was our sacrificial lamb, and this will bring huge exposure to the whaling issue, and to the whaler’s behavior. Perhaps this will help finally end illegal whaling in the Antarctic.

Today.... It’s really incredible that no one was killed.

We have the 6 crewmembers on board the Bob Barker now, who'll remain with us for the duration of our campaign as we continue to follow the Nisshin Maru. We target that ship specifically because that's where they process the whales. If we disable or at least block that ship, we stop the whaling.

I shot the entire day in detail, including the ramming of the Ady Gil. SS is in the process of sending these pics worldwide. I'll post some soon as well. Keep watch at open link and in this week's news.

More soon.

For the animals,
Jo-Anne