"Always Be Kind. Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle." That is the wonderful quote used by The Animal Welfare Adoption Network in their newsletter and website. This month they have very good news! According to A.W.A.N. out of West Hurley, the spay van from Accord is up and running. This will greatly help pet owners in our area to have their pets spayed or neutered at a very reasonable price. Dr. Avery Smith is the veterinarian in charge, and with his great technicians, he will be able to help you. For information, call 845-687-7619 ext. 202.

After twenty years, A.W.A.N. has done their best to help the area's animals and people. There were times when things were pretty rough, but they pressed on regardless to the benefit of all. Presently, author Ann Martin, is offering a matching grant to the organization from her foundation. Ms. Martin's latest novel is Everything for a Dog. She previously wrote A Dog's Life. So if you want to send A.W.A.N. something, just send to A.W.A.N., Box 53, West Hurley, NY 12491, call 845-679-0227, or go online at awaninc.org.

* * * Another cause for celebration is the following from the Humane Society of the United States. Rebecca Aldworth, Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues, The Humane Society of the United States, wrote the update and I added my thoughts.

"The European Union has slammed shut the door on trade in the products of the commercial seal slaughter," said Aldworth. "The Canadian government used every trick in the book to try to derail the ban: massive lobbying, misinformation, and even threats of trade reprisals. But the EU stood its ground and honored its citizens' opposition to this trade in cruelty. By doing so, the EU has saved millions of seals from a horrible fate."

As we all know, beginning many years ago, every March, baby harp seals have had their heads bashed in, in front of their mothers, by brutal Canadian sealers. The sealers have been offered the same amount of money to stop that they would have made, but no, they either enjoy the killing or have some stupid, atavistic pride. The seal skin brought in very little money and was used to line gloves and hats for Norwegians.

The article goes on to say, "On our trips to the ice, the Protect Seals team has brought key opinion shapers such as Paul McCartney and Swedish Member of the European Parliament Carl Schlyter. After their trips, neither has wavered in speaking out against the hunt. Shortly after his trip to the ice, Schlyter drafted the first version of today's EU ban. Our hunt footage was directly responsible for convincing the rest of the EU to agree to the ban. It gives me enormous satisfaction to know that we haven't just documented the hunt, we have made history. Just the promise of an EU ban was enough to drive the prices for seal fur down to $15 (CAD) per skin — a decline of 86 percent since 2006. As a result, many sealers stayed home. Out of this year's quota of 280,000 harp seals, fewer than 60,000 have been killed so far."

I have been boycotting Canadian seafood for a few years and encouraging others to do so. We can just as well eat American caught seafood. Anyway, if the Canadian Parliament finally passes the bill to end this unnecessary event, I will go out immediately to Red Lobster. I am kidding, because my personal boycott doesn't matter, but since so many of us have taken the pledge, it just may have made a dent. I think it was Plato who said, "Silence Gives Consent."

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