N.J. Animal Rights Alliance focuses on animal rights and legislation.
23/07/07 14:06 Filed in: Legislative
Update
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/23/07
BY CHERYL MILLER CORRESPONDENT
She'll have to contact the Monmouth County SPCA, which takes injured birds, Janine Motta of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance tells her. "But they won't come get him; you'll have to take him there yourself," she says.
The woman questions the necessity of having to bring the dove to the Eatontown-based animal shelter, but Motta urges her to do so. "If he's an adult, any cut will attract maggots and flies and spell death for him," she says firmly.
The woman concurs and hangs up.
Each town has its own
protocol for dealing with injured animals.
Veronica Ehrenspeck, office manager at the SPCA, recommends residents first call their local police department to report an injured animal.
It's just one of the many calls the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance gets daily — calls on everything from how to oppose deer hunting to finding products that haven't been tested on animals. And Motta is there every day to answer every one of the calls.
"If we can't help, we're always willing to hook them up with those who can help," she says.
Although the statewide, nonprofit organization has been operating since 1983, it's still small; besides Motta, there is Angi Metler, its director, and Jody Goldstein, its feral cat program coordinator. And despite a membership that numbers 2,500 throughout the state, the alliance is still relatively unknown. So many of those calling assume the NJARA is a shelter, but it's not; the alliance dispenses information on animal rights, and works to fight and change legislation that causes animals to be exploited.
"Our motto is "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something,' " Motta says. "We are here to let people know they can make a change, they can act on it."
Motta speaks enthusiastically about the work that has become her passion.
"In a sense, animal rights is not really about loving animals, but respecting them. We believe animals have basic rights: the right to life, the right to live their life free of human exploitation and abuse. So, conversely, we do not have the right to use animals for any real or perceived need, whether it be food, clothing, entertainment, medical issues.
"The issues we really address are the institutionalized and legalized abuse of animals."
And this abuse is prevalent throughout society. "Everything we do has an animal behind it," she says, mentioning everything from shower items to deodorant to camera film.
At the moment, the NJARA is working to support legislation that would reform the Fish and Game Council. A state body that's been around for about 120 years, it is responsible for hunting in New Jersey, she says.
"We want the council to have a more balanced membership, because right now it's mostly (composed) of hunters, which represent less than 1 percent of New Jersey." And yet, the council has "total control over all wildlife in New Jersey."
The NJARA's main goal is to "allow for nonlethal options to be included in wildlife management plans."
It has a long battle ahead, Motta admits. But she, or others, should not be discouraged by that. "You can make a change as one person," she says.
Goldstein certainly believes that.
"Growing up in Bergen County, I — with five siblings — had horses and barns, many animals as well. All were spayed/neutered, and this was before recycling was fashionable or spaying and neutering was mainstream. We took in injured or strayed domestic and/or wild animals. There was much heartache caring for the sick and injured, but it taught us a lot."
When she moved to Burlington County as an adult, Goldstein noticed an abundance of feral cats in her community, and she began to care for them while at the same time educating people about the proper care of feral cats and cats in general. She started volunteering for the NJARA, and began officially working for the group in February.
It was a completely different experience that led Motta to the NJARA nearly 20 years ago, when she happened upon a flier about the Draize test. First performed in 1944, it was created to test cosmetics by applying chemicals into rabbits' eyes or onto their skin, and then observing the results for up to 14 days.
"I had to learn more and through my reading, realized that I didn't want to participate in it," Motta says. She learned how many animals were raised solely for human consumption — today, that figure is more than 1 billion, she says — or testing. It was life altering, she recalls.
"I was not surrounded by animals; I didn't come from an environment with animals."
But within a month, she totally changed her life. She became a vegetarian and then a vegan. She started doing volunteer work for the NJARA and then worked for the group full time, where she remains today. And she's hoping to plant that kind of a seed in someone else.
"Whoever put that flier there — they have no idea how they changed my life. You don't always see who you're affecting."
So now Motta, Goldstein and the NJARA try to plant that seed in others.
An entire wall of the NJARA office is devoted to literature, that encompasses everything from promoting responsible science, to ethical consumerism and environmentalism. A Vegetarian Starter Kit speaks not only about health and diet but about the inhumane ways animals are slaughtered in order to provide food.
Other brochures abound, on fur-based leisure products, white-tailed deer hunting facts, and on animal experimentation such as the Draize test, which so profoundly affected Motta. Plus, the alliance gives school presentations and distributes information at town fairs and festivals. And Goldstein promotes cat awareness by providing information to people via e-mail, mailings, presentations and phone calls.
"We also attempt to meet with townships and try to institute responsible caregiver ordinances to protect and benefit the township, the caregivers and the cats," Goldstein says.
The NJARA currently has two job openings available for a program coordinator and a youth outreach program coordinator.
"Children have a natural affinity for animals," Motta says. "Somewhere along the way it gets squelched."
The alliance might be small, but it knows it can make a difference, Motta says. "We have staying power," she says.
Veronica Ehrenspeck, office manager at the SPCA, recommends residents first call their local police department to report an injured animal.
It's just one of the many calls the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance gets daily — calls on everything from how to oppose deer hunting to finding products that haven't been tested on animals. And Motta is there every day to answer every one of the calls.
"If we can't help, we're always willing to hook them up with those who can help," she says.
Although the statewide, nonprofit organization has been operating since 1983, it's still small; besides Motta, there is Angi Metler, its director, and Jody Goldstein, its feral cat program coordinator. And despite a membership that numbers 2,500 throughout the state, the alliance is still relatively unknown. So many of those calling assume the NJARA is a shelter, but it's not; the alliance dispenses information on animal rights, and works to fight and change legislation that causes animals to be exploited.
"Our motto is "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something,' " Motta says. "We are here to let people know they can make a change, they can act on it."
Motta speaks enthusiastically about the work that has become her passion.
"In a sense, animal rights is not really about loving animals, but respecting them. We believe animals have basic rights: the right to life, the right to live their life free of human exploitation and abuse. So, conversely, we do not have the right to use animals for any real or perceived need, whether it be food, clothing, entertainment, medical issues.
"The issues we really address are the institutionalized and legalized abuse of animals."
And this abuse is prevalent throughout society. "Everything we do has an animal behind it," she says, mentioning everything from shower items to deodorant to camera film.
At the moment, the NJARA is working to support legislation that would reform the Fish and Game Council. A state body that's been around for about 120 years, it is responsible for hunting in New Jersey, she says.
"We want the council to have a more balanced membership, because right now it's mostly (composed) of hunters, which represent less than 1 percent of New Jersey." And yet, the council has "total control over all wildlife in New Jersey."
The NJARA's main goal is to "allow for nonlethal options to be included in wildlife management plans."
It has a long battle ahead, Motta admits. But she, or others, should not be discouraged by that. "You can make a change as one person," she says.
Goldstein certainly believes that.
"Growing up in Bergen County, I — with five siblings — had horses and barns, many animals as well. All were spayed/neutered, and this was before recycling was fashionable or spaying and neutering was mainstream. We took in injured or strayed domestic and/or wild animals. There was much heartache caring for the sick and injured, but it taught us a lot."
When she moved to Burlington County as an adult, Goldstein noticed an abundance of feral cats in her community, and she began to care for them while at the same time educating people about the proper care of feral cats and cats in general. She started volunteering for the NJARA, and began officially working for the group in February.
It was a completely different experience that led Motta to the NJARA nearly 20 years ago, when she happened upon a flier about the Draize test. First performed in 1944, it was created to test cosmetics by applying chemicals into rabbits' eyes or onto their skin, and then observing the results for up to 14 days.
"I had to learn more and through my reading, realized that I didn't want to participate in it," Motta says. She learned how many animals were raised solely for human consumption — today, that figure is more than 1 billion, she says — or testing. It was life altering, she recalls.
"I was not surrounded by animals; I didn't come from an environment with animals."
But within a month, she totally changed her life. She became a vegetarian and then a vegan. She started doing volunteer work for the NJARA and then worked for the group full time, where she remains today. And she's hoping to plant that kind of a seed in someone else.
"Whoever put that flier there — they have no idea how they changed my life. You don't always see who you're affecting."
So now Motta, Goldstein and the NJARA try to plant that seed in others.
An entire wall of the NJARA office is devoted to literature, that encompasses everything from promoting responsible science, to ethical consumerism and environmentalism. A Vegetarian Starter Kit speaks not only about health and diet but about the inhumane ways animals are slaughtered in order to provide food.
Other brochures abound, on fur-based leisure products, white-tailed deer hunting facts, and on animal experimentation such as the Draize test, which so profoundly affected Motta. Plus, the alliance gives school presentations and distributes information at town fairs and festivals. And Goldstein promotes cat awareness by providing information to people via e-mail, mailings, presentations and phone calls.
"We also attempt to meet with townships and try to institute responsible caregiver ordinances to protect and benefit the township, the caregivers and the cats," Goldstein says.
The NJARA currently has two job openings available for a program coordinator and a youth outreach program coordinator.
"Children have a natural affinity for animals," Motta says. "Somewhere along the way it gets squelched."
The alliance might be small, but it knows it can make a difference, Motta says. "We have staying power," she says.
