Reasons

I started LA 4 Animals Foundation in 2011. As a longtime activist and recording artist, I decided to combine the two.

When I saw what was happening in LA shelters as the recession grew – it put me in a state of shock and sadness. This magnificently wealthy metropolis has had an ongoing crisis of over-crowding in ill equipped shelters and resulting rampant euthanasia for far too many years. 

Hearing the calling to action –   loud, I put aside my music, sold my holistic wellness business and lived off the money to concentrate fully on putting together LA 4 Animals           Foundation. 

The idea is if everyone contributes what they can, we can orchestrate the solutions needed.

We're creating tie ins with Hollywood themes to help bring more attention and support to saving lives and adopting animals, like the program SAVE THE CHI.  Rusco who starred as the Beverly Hills Chihuahua is the official spokes dog, together Alison Eastwood and George Lopez, we can draw attention to get more public participation. 


Our goal is education and utilizing community resources to lower pet population, increase adoption, awareness and expand the viewership of homeless pets to new portals via online and local outlets. Targeted spay neuter and unifying with others who care. 

Rusco, star of Beverly Hills Chihuahua urging support for his kind!

Alison Eastwood has a heart of gold! Thanks to Rusco, his  trainer Amanda and all of Rusco's peeps, Jennifer, John, Mike! 



Alison recorded  a video which talks about Chi over-population, and that help is needed from the community.




For more info: click on links below! 
                                    .................... WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SAVECHIS
        .....................WWW.LA4ANIMALS.COM

Love Divided - Animal Rescue in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a city like no other. LA 4 Animals Foundation was created to CALL TO ACTION those who care to help stop the killing of – what averages out to be hundreds of adoptable dogs and cats per day in and around the City of Angels!  Many people are waorking to save lives and change LA from being high kill to a model for humane animal care. 
I was warned that many in the rescue community in LA are competitive, don’t get along, out for themselves & all the credit and donation dollars that go along with good will ventures. Truth is, Los Angeles has enough resources, supporters and donation dollars for everyone - if we are doing our jobs right. 

Critical judgment and competition (ego), have splintered the animal rescue and advocacy groups of Los Angeles – to the detriment of those we are all desperately trying to save.

A key to uniting and not staying separate is to remember our similarities instead of dwelling on the differences. Another key is to have integrity and grace, to credit others for their work and ideas - and contribute, not obstruct. I believe if rescues worked together, shared resources and honored eachothers good work – the euthanasia rate would be far lower. 

I've seen people stop doing rescue because of the general demeanor of so many who do it. The situation is so dire and stressful - so many animals need rescue and medical attention, that attitudes often are short tempered and quick to blame.  Someone can do good work for years, and if something unfortunate happens, even beyond their control (which is inevitable dealing with so many animals who come out of shelters sick and afraid) - they get blacklisted. Again, magnifying the negative, and not giving credit for the good that they've done. 

Frankly, if we were fighting a war– we’d lose. Platoons would be fighting about strategies to help those in harms way. The Army would be negative about the Marines, the Marines would hate the Navy, and the Navy would refuse to work with the Air Force. The National Guard would be seen as a bunch of wanna be’s and not taken serious.

We ARE an army fighting a unified enemy – the killing of adoptable homeless pets in shelters, apathy about this daily crisis and the ignorance of the public at large regarding overcrowding in shelters – and how precious life is. Animals truly are ‘the little people’, with all the characteristics of humans, and more. Many consider them angels, I do.

Tactically, efficiency  and morally speaking – it’s the right thing to do.  So everyone put down your grievances, your magnifying glasses and jump off your high horses and roll with the rest of us – there is much work to be done. We are all pieces of the same puzzle. We can stay scattered pieces on the floor, or come together and create a gorgeous tapestry. 

www.la4animals.com

The trek to do anything worthwhile is never easy!

Life is a trip and a journey. Blessings to all -- at this time of great change and turmoil...may you find your place with as must joy as you can possibly muster. 

The trek to do anything worthwhile is never easy, Dale Carnegie and the rest of his friends were right.   I can attest to this – having embarked on creating LA 4 Animals Foundation that mobilizes the LA Community to help the adoptable dogs and cats dying far too many in our shelters every  day. Yes, you heard that right.  

The bond between Human and Canine/Feline is undeniable              -let's dignify it with the care they need. 


Like Homer's Odyssey, we come upon cyclopes and skeleton armies in their various forms - sometimes even within ourselves. That's when we dig deeper, swim farther, and believe more than ever before. That's when the inner light becomes brighter, conviction stronger, and faith engraves in your marrow. Seems the most difficult times, are when we learn the most profound lessons -  suffering is often the fertilizer that helps the spirit to grow.                                       Suppose that's what Yin and Yang are about.

LA 4 ANIMALS FOUNDATION   I'm proud of what has been accomplished and the alliances formed in such a short time- Sharon Osbourne, Woody Harrelson, Jenny McCarthy, Bill Maher who jumped on early to support...thank you! Everyone else...Put on your tights, grab your capes, the Animals of your community need Champions - right now.                         

WE CAN solve this problem by creating better systems, better education - together like a team. 


Los Angeles is coming together, not one group - many groups and individuals       Let's do this. 

Paul Watson & Sea Shepherd Bring It Prime Time

--> -->  -->Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd, the Japanese, Whales,  Larry King & Bob Barker

Paul brings his long crusade of anti-whaling to prime time - Whale Wars is a hit on Animal Planet and on July 1^st, 2010, a second appearance on Larry King Live, with Bob Barker. Barker, a longtime animal advocate, gave Sea Shepherd a cool 5 Mil to continue their efforts. I think they both deserve KNIGHTHOODS. 

For anyone who has followed Paul Watson’s controversial career, it is quite historic that his presence is now Prime Time, considering this guy, for the past, ew, 40 years has spent most of his life defending those who cannot defend themselves – working to get the press to pay attention, so injustices could be exposed to the public. Then he gets called a media whore, which could not be further from the truth. Watson is dedicated, smart, courageous and a force to be reckoned with. I challenge anyone to spend any time with the man, and tell me different. Let’s put any other myths to the contrary to rest. 

Paul and his crew stand up to those who slaughter whales illegally, while they migrate for birthing in a designated sanctuary, which Japan refuses to recognize.  This is why Sea Shepherd goes down to the Southern Pacific Ocean each fall, and have been thwarting the Japanese Whalers from killing the birthing Whales within Sanctuary territory - and what the show WHALE WARS captures on film. Whales usually have one, maybe two calves, which they nurture for up to 5 years. So when the mother is killed, her Calf flounders and dies. Maybe ends up shark food with no protection. Or sometimes they just slaughter it along with it’s mother, like below. What the heck, as it's just floating around confused and grieving from watching its mother get blown up and die, easy prey. 

...I know it’s not as much fun to look at as, say, Lady Ga Ga dressed like a  Jelly Doughnut or something, but we can no longer NOT look at these things. The whales are killed with harpoon guns that have explosives on them, so the spear explodes when it pierces them. Many species of Whales are endangered, yet   this madness continues.  There is controversy regarding the stats on Whale population. Authorities really don't know and can only guess how many Whales roam the ocean, but scientists and biologists agree, because of climate change and commercial kills, populations are decreasing, some drastically more than others.

Despite a global moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986 and the establishment of the Southern Ocean as an international whale sanctuary in 1994, more than 1,500 whales are hunted and killed each year for their meat. Looks like some people never got the memo.     
The Japanese Whalers are breaking the law and getting away with murder, through a loophole in the moratorium saying you could kill whales for....rrresearch.  Thousands of whales for research. How much whale blubber do you need to fill a bunch of test tubes? What a farce, check the pic below of the Japanese Whaling ship Nisshin Maru, with RESEARCH written huge on it’s side, IN ENGLISH. This is the most blatant (and if not so tragic, hilarious) example of a mislead tactic for covering up, that I have witnessed, ever

 

Someone needs to stop this deception and violation at once. Oh, I forgot, that's what Watson's been doing - going right where he needed to be, and put his life on the line with others with the same conviction. The good Captain Watson never puts any lives in danger, these are willing participants, and there are millions more, who feel that strongly about this ongoing mass slaughter of innocence and grace. I think Anna Cummins said it best, "There came a time when convictions grew more powerful than my comfort." Many people are feeling like this, there is so very much at stake. 


Governments have been more concerned about their commercial interests with Japan, than the lives of majestic creatures who are endangered, and, the extinction of the grandest species on earth. Some say the governing force for whale conservation and quotas IWC (International Whaling Commission) need to be watched...the Japanese are throwing lotsa YEN around. One delegate was found to be offering his vote to the highest bidder. Too often big money corporations bribe, cut costs, rush quality control through, insist they've done the tests, will abide by quotas, promising nothing drastic can happen via their efforts. I can sum that up in two letters. BP. There is far too much at stake for this kind of social irresponsibility. It is treason against a race, the human race, and all life on this planet. 

Paul Watson steps in when there is a breach and the authorities don’t do their job.  He’s the ultimate enforcer of ocean conservation, and we should all thank God for him. Watson and his crew, some of the nicest people you'd ever meet, get called terrorists by Japanese spin doctoring and thus misinformed people, they are watched by the FBI, arrested, harassed, physically attacked, their million dollar alternative energy ship demolished - anything the Whalers do to Sea Shepherds goes unanswered for and down played. Adversely, a rancid butter stick hurled by Sea Shepherd crew member Paul Bethune at a Whaling ship made a guy's face red and Paul is facing 2 years in a Japanese prison. Fair? WHERE ARE THE NEW ZEALAND AUTHORITIES... CRYPTIC MESSAGE : GROW A PAIR.

Thanks to Watson's longtime dedication and undeterred persistence, the truth is coming out, and it seems who many thought were the bad guys, are the good guys. Heros. Who’da thunk. Well, many of us knew, the truth sometimes takes a minute to get untangled from the grip of big money’s PR. 

Get involved. Sea Shepherd’s website. www.seashepherd.org no time like the present, considering, we’re running out of it. Oh, and send the Japan Whaling Association alittle note, they said on their site they like hearing from people. They’re the ones who think hunting whales is just dandy. The ones who make up distortion and excuses so they can slaughter more pregnant and nursing whales.

Japan Whaling Association    Email: kujira@whaling.jp

Heck, while you’re at it, the IWC International Whaling Commission, sure could use a bunch of people urging them to do their jobs and refuse corruption - just in case, God forbid, they would ever so such a thing. Oh, and  ummm, ask if they have any Swiss bank accounts!  secretariat@iwcoffice.org   &   iwcjournal@iwcoffice.org   the links are right here, do something, I've made it simple!

I salute you Paul Watson, the good captain, and the Sea Shepherd crew for your many years of hard work and dedication you’ve devoted to saving the majestic, most grand life in our oceans, and others like them who suffer due to greed and apathy.  We’re behind you 150%. 
  

That’s the skinny, now you know. Make it count, write those emails, to your Senators, express your opinions. 

For the earth, Linda Raya Carel...
if you've read this far down, then this is like your prize in a box of cracker jacks...here's some of my music and artist vibes - hope you enjoy!    
Music, etc  link: www.myspace.com/rt2 

 

Sacrifices of Becoming Vegan

Some years ago, as I ran around art studios and the Village in NYC, I was Vegan…my shoes were cloth (with no support, don’t know how I did it), I had very short hair and wore a cap. My nick-name was Calby, maybe I looked like a cartoon character? I got so anemic that a doctor could not hear my heartbeat - with a stethoscope! Holistic doctors I trusted told me I needed complex protein which could only be gotten from the cannibal like practice of eating - an animal. I was floored, having expected some Chinese Herbal formula to aid my iron absorption, or something to that effect.

It was because of my blood type, I was told, Mediterranean lineage, type 0 – meat eaters, grunt.  But I love animals with all my heart. Jane Goodall is my hero, and those like her who communicate with animals and know their language.  A favorite quote: It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions. -Mark Twain

So there I was, at a diner in Santa Monica, at this point, staring down a hamburger in front of me. Not just any diner, but one that serves organic, grade A dead animals. I looked at it a good long time, and thought about the big eyed gentle creature it came from. Biting into it took me back to my childhood, at the club – thick burgers medium rare, a tall icey glass of coke and those huge potatoe fries (I was very young at the time, I wonder how big they would look to me now) I don’t dislike the taste of meat, are you kidding?  A juicy, lean burger with the works or primo cut of steak – is very satisfying and grounding. And so It happened, I reverted back to being… a carnivore!! Mwaaahahaaa

The past how ever many years since, I felt guilty about it, but didn’t want to become depleted again. Also, I've been working hard for some time now, and really needed to restore my own furnace.  I’d blown out my adrenals - take Pantothenic Acid if you have the same problem.  I pulled myself back from the brink, but couldn’t let go of the ‘easy protein fix’.

Recently, I attended another Animal Rights Conference and some of the images I saw…well, at one point, I had to go in a corner and cried for 10 minutes.  If you have the heart for it, and want to truly see what is happening out there to so many of our ‘cousins’ in the animal kingdom… go online and buy, see, whatever – the DVD ‘EARTHLINGS”, directed by Shaun Monson, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, music by Moby...with a cover recommendation by Woody Harrelson. The film makes an impact, it is as transformational as it is disturbing. 

Regrettably, these are images that everyone needs to see, so we can finally address the apathy and suffering inflicted on millions of animals.  My conscience will not allow me NOT to be a Vegan...aaaat least 75 percent of the time. 

Definition of 100% Vegan: You do not eat, wear or otherwise support anything that causes the suffering of animals along the way. This includes bull fights, rodeos, the circus, carriage rides in the park, pony rides where they are harnessed to be like a carousel, and have to keep walking in circles while looking at the butt of the pony in front of it, while giggling children get their pictures taken by mommy and dada. Not Vegan. There are many ppl who feel if you have something you wear alot, and it's made from animal, that you can eek it by (if your conscience doesn't call you a hypocrite, and you don't mind ducking your Vegan friends when you wear it). 75-90% VEGAN, is COOL TOO. Most people work their way back the food chain in increments. I have a bag stored of leather jackets and boots, that I can't let go of, but I don't want to see them. Only a matter of time. 

I mean, even to collect that soybean crop, a mule, horse or ox, was forced to carry over-capacity loads and work for the hu-‘MAN’. At some point, you just have to let it go. That being said, I don’t trust soy, over processed. I’ve found new products which are closing the gap of – not enough yummy meals for the Vegan pallet!

Grain meats…made by ‘Field Roast’, have various flavors of meat-like loafs and sausages…and I love them! Faves are the Celebration Loaf, stuffed with butternut squash, apple and mushroom pate (holla!), and the Lentil loaf. The smoked apple sage  sausage is a staple that I, and my dogs enjoy on a regular basis! These are great vegetarian meat-like substitutes, and their protein count is through the roof!  To make them even tastier…I use Hanes Organic Vegan Gravy in a package…add Agave and some pureed whatever taste I want, maybe corn - you can experiment with the gravy.

Last but not least (I have a sweet tooth),  Purely Decadent Vanilla Bean frozen dessert made with Coconut milk - I threw in some toasted Coconut and Hazelnuts. Ew la la. So yeah, cruelty free diets can rock. 

There are certain things, part of the Vegan sacrifice, that just can never be replaced. Like my beige suede converse sneaks, broken in to that perfect comfy place that took years of wear to achieve.  A signature piece of wardrobe that were more like friends than footwear. Those are the last to go, they're not in storage, they're in my closet, but I haven't worn them in...2 years? Maybe a photo of the absolute fave dead animal carcass product, and keeping it for the sake of art or momentum, is the way to go –  a reminder of their uber character, and your conscious evolution.