Rocky Mountain Animal Defense Winter/Spring Update 2005

Contents

Introduction
RMAD is pleased to share with you this brief update on our efforts. It's been a busy year. The political and economical climate has not been favorable to animals. It is during such times that advocacy takes on extra importance. And it is during such times that the effectiveness of the advocacy community becomes critical.

RMAD continues to pursue innovative, collaborative efforts to achieve our mission of helping eliminate the human-imposed suffering of animals in the Rocky Mountain region. With our broad base of dedicated volunteers, we leverage our resources for the best outcomes for our animal friends. We're pleased to bring you this update.

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Save the Date!
Join Rocky Mountain Animal Defense on Wednesday, December 7, 2005, in Denver at the Oxford Hotel as we celebrate the holiday season. We'll have some awesome auction items for you to bid on and some delicious vegan appetizers and desserts. The event starts at 6:30. For information on the extravaganza, contact Donna Marino at donnam@rmad.org or 303-449-4422.

"Dining Out for RMAD Day" is Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at Watercourse Foods in Denver. Watercourse will donate 25% of sales to RMAD. Please plan on having breakfast, lunch or dinner (or all three!) at the Watercourse on January 31. Please mention that you're with RMAD, so they know that supporting us supports their business.

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A Few Questions Just for You!
As RMAD grows, we occasionally have the opportunity to swap address lists with other like-minded organizations for one-time use only. This gives RMAD access to a lot of potential new members, and connects you to groups that you may have some interest in. Even though we swap lists only rarely, we want to give you the option to opt out. If you don't want us to share your name, let us know by email or by phone (303-449-4422).

Advocacy work of any kind tends to be quite challenging, often rewarding, but sometimes overwhelming. RMAD is considering sponsoring a facilitated support group to help our volunteers get the support they need. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please let us know.

Are you staying current? As a service to our constituents, RMAD provides a variety of electronic updates and listserves. To find out more, go to http://www.rmad.org/contact.html.

As always, you can call us at 303-449-4422.

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Feedback
The RMAD staff and board are always interested in your feedback. If you'd like to communicate with the staff, send an email to chrisj@rmad.org. If you'd like to communicate with the board, send an email to RMAD President Bob Rose at bobr@rmad.org. If you want your input to be confidential, just ask.

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Administrative Updates

Welcome Donna Marino! Donna was recently hired part-time as operations director. Donna has been a long-time volunteer and supporter of RMAD.

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Program Updates
Companion Animals Program
In August 2005, RMAD distributed 20,000 flyers promoting low-cost spay/neuter services in the Denver/Boulder area. We focused the distribution on the Hill area of Boulder since so many students get new pets at the start of the school year. The flyers also promote appropriate treatment of cats and dogs - including pronouncements against declawing and tail docking. RMAD is making these flyers available to other organizations for use in their communities. To download the bi-lingual flyers, go to http://www.rmad.org/comp_animal_flyer.html. It's an easy way to spread the word about helping our animal friends and to promote RMAD.

Urban Wildlife Management Plan
The City of Boulder is in the process of formulating its Urban Wildlife Management Plan (UWMP), which will likely result in less protection for prairie dogs and prairie wildlife. Some Boulder residents are calling for lethal control of prairie dogs. Rocky Mountain Animal Defense has organized a team of volunteers to work on this campaign. We urge you to get involved and prevent this from happening in Colorado! Boulder is known for its progressive and humane wildlife management; this is one of the things that sets apart our community from others. If Boulder is to remain a leader in humane treatment toward animals, we need to make sure our wildlife management plan truly reflects humanitarian values. To help with this program, contact yemaya@rmad.org.

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Project Updates
Nalgene Boycott
RMAD continues to boycott the Nalge-Nunc Corporation - makers of Nalgene water bottles - because of the corporation's support of animal research. Fortunately, the market has recently seen the introduction of the GSI Outdoor bottle (http://www.gsioutdoors.com/), which is identical in performance to the Nalgene water bottle and is priced to compete. See http://rmad.org/nalgene.html for more info.

Prairie Dog Coalition
RMAD continues to serve as the fiscal sponsor to the Prairie Dog Coalition. (This means we manage the Coalition's financial matters.) The Coalition is gaining momentum. After a day-long strategic planning session held on the weekend of the 2003 Prairie Dog Summit, the Coalition has a refined mission statement, well-stated goals, and enough funding to hire a part-time executive director. Watch http://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/ for exciting developments!

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Upcoming Events
Be an Angel - join RMAD on Fur Free Friday, November 25, to mourn the loss of animal lives and educate consumers about the horrors of the fur industry. The protest will take place from 11am to 1pm in Denver at Neiman Marcus, 3033 E 1st Ave (Cherry Creek Mall) and then move to Marks Lloyd's.

If you have any questions please contact RMAD at info@rmad.org. We hope to see you there!

Watch the RMAD Calendar or contact us at 303-449-4422 for details on these and other upcoming events and activities.

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Volunteer Corner!
RMAD is a volunteer-based organization. For a comprehensive list of volunteer opportunities, visit http://www.rmad.org/volunteer.html. RMAD conducts bi-weekly volunteer orientation meetings. Check out the website for the date and location of the next meeting. All responses/inquiries related to volunteering with RMAD should be sent to volunteer@rmad.org.

Bookkeeping. RMAD is looking for a volunteer or low-cost bookkeeping services.

Graphic Design. RMAD is putting together a standard mailing to send out to all prospective members. We need an experienced graphic designer to help us with this.

Writing. RMAD needs to have a greater presence in the letters sections of area and national newspapers. If you have good writing skills and a little spare time, this is your opportunity to help RMAD, help the animals, and learn more about current issues.

More Writing: RMAD continues to look for writers for the Health Cooperative website.

Web Design and Coding. RMAD has several projects that would benefit from some volunteer design/coding.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these opportunities, please let us know.

Thanks to all who volunteer!

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Holiday Shopping? Shop RMAD!
Visit our online store at http://www.rmad.org/store.html for organic products and other good goods.

This is perfect timing for all of your holiday shopping. http://www.AnimalRightstuff.com specializes in veg and animal rights designs on hard-to-find styles: baseball T's, hoodies, hats and a large selection of women's styles. Have a look if you get a chance, and please forward this message to everyone who supports our work. Thanks for supporting this vegan company and RMAD!

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Wish List
If you have a cordless phone that works well and has a ringer that can be turned on and off, please let us know.

Are you sitting on what RMAD needs? Please take at look at our many Wish List items at http://www.rmad.org/wishlist.html.

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Lost and Found
If you have RMAD's copy of Office Yoga, please return it!

If you know anything about a stack of 8-mm films with titles such as "Gina's 1st Communion", "Cuomo's/Christmas Tree Hunt", and "Cardiff Rose", please let us know. We have them, though it's not clear why.

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Please Contribute Today!
If you aren't a regular contributor to RMAD, please consider taking a few moments right now to send us a contribution. Click here to make a secure electronic contribution. You may contact us by email (info@rmad.org) or phone (303-449-4422) to request a contribution form. Credit card contributions also may be made over the phone.

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Our mission is to help eliminate the human-imposed suffering of animals
in the Rocky Mountain region.