Humane Chain Day 17

Hi,

I would just like to thank everyone who is participating with such gusto, enthusiasm and creativity in this campaign. The second weeks of our campaigns are usually (and understandably) a little quieter than the first week. I guess it's only natural for some of the initial excitement to subside... but last week, we still encouraged just over 17,000 customers to join the humane chain!

That means a total of 38,000 people so far have spoken up against the cruel and torturous treatment of Australian sheep in the live export trade. Friends, the fact is there is an alternative. Halal-accredited, chilled meat is already being exported to the Middle East. It is a much more humane and economically beneficial model. It creates jobs for Australian meat workers.

However, the Australian Government for some reason that baffles me does not support this alternative. Sometimes the debate focuses on sheep farmers. This is unhelpful because with a careful transition period - there should be no effect on sheep farmers whatsoever. Meanwhile the Government seem happy with their policy to export jobs and millions of miserable animals a year on a three week journey to the Middle East.

Tell your Member of Parliament this isn't good enough. Learn more about it and sign up to the Humane Chain. Get your family and friends to do the same!

MURRAY STREET (WA)

ADELAIDE CENTRAL PLAZA (SA)

Humane Chain Day 13

Still going strong!

EPPING (Vic)

BRIDGE ROAD (Vic)





HIGHPOINT (Vic)

CHATSWOOD (NSW)

WODEN (ACT)

THE BIG ISSUE RECEIVES $1.2 MILLION TO ASSIST HOMELESS AND MARGINALISED WOMEN

Homeless women across the country will be given the opportunity to gain financial independence and take control of their lives thanks to an announcement made today by the Australian Government to grant The Big Issue $1.2million to address a critical social need in Australia; employment opportunities for homeless and disadvantaged women.

The Minister for Employment Participation Mark Arbib and Senator Stephen Fielding announced Round 2 of the Government’s Get Communities Working projects under the Jobs Fund, which will see The Big Issue receive funding to establish a viable and sustainable social enterprise, providing appropriate employment, training and pathway opportunities for disadvantaged women in vulnerable situations.

“These projects will support and create jobs in communities hardest hit by unemployment and the global economic downturn, while providing much needed assistance to some of the most disadvantaged Australians,” Senator Arbib said.

“Support for social enterprises which provide training and employment opportunities to the long-term unemployed, homeless people and people with disability is one way to break the cycle of disadvantage and help people into meaningful long-term jobs.”

The Women’s Subscriptions Enterprise will initially employ 90 disadvantaged women and six professional staff through a model selling subscriptions to The Big Issue magazine, a long standing and quality product that currently reaches more than 130 000 Australians each fortnight.

Subscription sales will be achieved through professional telemarketing so there is no pressure on the women to sell and the program will be supported by The Big Issue’s existing governance, management, marketing and administration resources.

Disadvantaged women will be employed to work as Dispatch Assistants and collate, sort and insert the magazines every fortnight.

The Big Issue’s CEO Steven Persson said The Big Issue has been operating in Australia since 1996 and has successfully worked in helping thousands of homeless and disadvantaged Australians to help themselves.

“With the Street Magazine Enterprise showing remarkable outcomes over the past 14 years, predominantly for men, we recognised nearly three years ago that we needed to also establish a viable and sustainable social enterprise for women,” Mr Persson said.

“Since that time we have conducted an extensive feasibility study reviewing what work opportunities best meet needs of homeless and disadvantaged women and it brings us great pleasure to now see years of hard work come to fruition thanks to the support of the Australian Government.”

Head of Corporate Affairs for The Big Issue, Natalie Susman, said women made up 40 percent of those sleeping rough or in non-secure housing.

“The largest single cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children,” Ms Susman said.

“What we are doing is providing these women with safe and secure employment, training and pathway opportunities, giving them financial independence and ultimately allowing them to change their lives and have control over their futures.”

The Women’s Subscriptions Enterprise is entirely scalable – as subscriptions are sold, revenue is directed straight into the pockets of disadvantaged women, through provision of wages, training, mentoring and support.

“The enterprise is financially sustainable and totally viable after the start up phase through ongoing subscription sales,” Ms Susman concluded.

Humane Chain Day 9

By Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Results from Week 1 are in!

After just 7 days our 82 stores and many At Home Consultants have created 20,934 links in the chain - so we're already half way to our target of 40,000 and it's only week one!

Each link is about 10cm long which means our national humane chain is already 2,093 metres long – which is longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1,149m)!

Our customers are showing very strong support for this campaign with 46% of customers wanting to join the campaign. Let's hope this kind of public support continues to build pressure on the Government to phase out live sheep exports and instead help the (humanely slaughtered) chilled meat export industry. This will mean no farmers are affected and jobs are created in rural Australian communities.

GREENSBOROUGH (Vic)

DONCASTER (Vic)

HIGHPOINT (Vic)

THE BIG ISSUE CELEBRATES 350 EDITIONS ON THE STREETS

Prepared by: Sunny Oliver-Bennetts, The Big Issue
Australia’s best known street magazine, The Big Issue, celebrates its 350th edition this fortnight – 84 of those with Walkley Award-winning journalist and author Alan Attwood at the helm.

Since its launch on the steps of Flinders St Station in Melbourne in June 1996, The Big Issue vendors in Australia have sold more than 5.5 million magazines, with $9.5 million going into the pockets of homeless and unemployed people.

After working as a journalist and US correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers, Walkley Award-winning journalist and author Alan Attwood came on board as a Columnist with The Big Issue in 2003, eventually taking over as Editor in November 2006.

“I first became interested in the magazine, after a quarter-century in mainstream media, because it struck me as a wonderfully simple and practical idea,” Attwood says.

In Attwood’s three years with The Big Issue he has formed close bonds with many of the vendors. Once a fortnight in Melbourne, at a barbeque for vendors, he presents the latest edition of the magazine to those that sell it and regularly engages with the vendors to obtain their opinions on what they and readers want.

Attwood’s editorial in the 350th ‘3D special’ edition of The Big Issue reflects on the evolution of computer technology, reflecting on the creation, in the mid-1950s, of a ‘350’ disc storage unit by IBM.

“As our story in this edition makes clear, 350 isn’t a celebrated number – unlike, say, 21 or 100 – but to an enterprise like this one it’s significant, especially to the men and women who sell it.”

Humane Chain Day 8

ERINA (NSW)

Catherine and Michelle (below) showing off their links. Special Mention to Tennille from their team for her passion and commitment. Over 300 signatures in week 1 - a staggering 70% of customers signing up!

Tea Tree Plaza (SA)

Tea Tree Plaza created this fun sheepy activity for the many kids who come into the store with their mums.

THE GLEN (Vic)

Stylin' the Humane Chain

BOURKE STREET (Vic)

Whilst doing their Community Project at the Community Festival (in Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy) Cass & Nat saw these gorgeous little guys and just had to give them a hug. We heart sheep.

Humane Chain Campaign Day 5

CHADSTONE

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

BOURKE STREET MALL

COLLINS STREET

Loungeroom Safari

By Rachel Muraca - Customer Service

I watched an amazing story called “Loungeroom Safari” on 60 minutes on Sunday night about the rescue of exotic animals from homes in America.

In the US, you can buy a Lion, Tiger or Bear (oh my!) as a pet.

YES, you heard me correctly, as A PET. Being an avid animal activist, this brought on many feelings for me, the main one being rage! I find it incomprehensible that someone can think a Lion, Tiger or Bear would make a good pet. Yes they are cute as cubs, and sure, we’d all ‘love’ to have one, but then reality kicks in and you realise that the cute bundle of fur you are looking at will grow into a 300kg plus WILD ANIMAL.

These are not domesticated animals like cats and dogs, they are called wild animals for a reason, the main one being that as the name suggests, they are wild, and will remain wild, no matter how much love or training you give it. If your pet tiger is in a cranky mood and doesn’t want a pat, he will take your arm off with a swipe of his paw, whereas your domestic cat may only render a scratch.


I can understand that most people want to own exotic pets out of love and awe for the animal, however we need to start thinking about how much of this is ‘love’ and how much is a selfish want. If you really love wild animals, DON’T buy one as a pet. The animal will be much happier in its natural environment, roaming the wilderness and forests as it was born to do. To own these animals is cruel and selfish; no creature of this size or stature should be kept in a cage for human enjoyment. If you love animals, stick to books, the internet and the discovery channel, and see them living in their natural environment.



No animal should be kept in a cage; not a domestic animal, and even more so not a wild one. Humans are just one species of animal that live on this earth. Just because a Lion does not speak our language, does not give us the right to put it in a cage.

There are approximately 7,000 tigers kept as pets in the USA alone - yes that’s right, 7,000. This is twice the amount left in the wild throughout the entire world. There are 25,000 great cats and bears and other large carnivores that are outside the zoo system in the United States. These figures are just astounding, and it needs to stop!

Pat and the team at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado rescue large predators from their ‘owners’ and rehabilitate them from their dysfunctional life with humans back into a more natural world.

For Pat, it all started 30 years ago when he rescued a jaguar called Freckles, and since then he has saved more than 1,000 animals. Today his 320-acre property is home to lions, bears, wolves, leopards, cougars and 70 tigers. The ultimate goal is to eventually release all these creatures into large prairie paddocks to enjoy a freedom never known before. But some animals have been so badly treated that that is almost impossible.
















To see the fantastic work that Pat Craig and his team at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, visit: http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/home.html

To read a transcript of the 60 minutes presentation, click here.

Just remember: sometimes the most love you can give to a wild animal is to let it be what it is supposed to be – a wild animal.