Sunday, September 2, 2012

Wildlife Carvings from California Artist Greg Pezzoni at Skipjack

Carved and painted yellowfin tuna by Greg Pezzoni.

Raised in Santa Barbara, on California's southern coastline until his early teens. Greg was exposed early to both fresh and salt water angling. Half day boats in the Santa Barbara channel and full day excursions to the city's famous wharf introduced him to numerous species, such as bonita, halibut, sheep head, sharks, rock fish and kelp dwellers of all kinds. A small lake within walking distance instilled his passion for largemouth bass fishing, while supplying mixed bags of bluegill, crappie and catfish. With back packing trips to the nearby Santa Ynez and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, Greg then added California's numerous trout species (including the coveted golden trout, California's state fish) to his fishing "have caught" list. Relocating to Kentucky, then North Carolina, enabled him to fish waters he had only read about. Carolina's famous outer banks, the Dan and New rivers of Virginia, and the TVA impoundments of the Smokey Mountains added striped & small mouth bass, bluefish, Spanish & king mackerel to the list. Having excelled in art since an early age, he has combined that gift with his love of the outdoors and angling, to create these highly realistic wooden relief carvings. Greg now resides just outside of the small town of Linden, Ca. on the Calavaras River, where he lives with the catch of his lifetime.

You can visit a selection of Greg's marine-wildlife carvings on our website by following the link here to Greg Pezzoni. at Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery. We currently have a great selection of his whales to choose from including humpback, sperm and gray whales. These life-like relief carvings will certainly be highly collected and a perfect accompaniment to your coastal home. Shown above: A large white sperm whale and below, a humpback whale.

Carved from kiln dried pine, the pectoral and pelvic fins are carved separately and added on to give the impression of a full bodied mount. Each piece is then sealed, primered, painted and then finished with several coats of high quality varnish. Greg uses high quality species correct taxidermist glass eyes in most of my carvings. The back is flat with a custom designed mounting bracket that allows you to angle the mount in any direction with only one hanging point. It also extends the mount out away from the wall giving it a more rounded three dimensional look.There are felt pads that allow this feature with no damage or scratches to your wall.

Greg's wildlife carvings is a great example of the type of marine art that you will find at Skipjack Nautical Wares & Marine Gallery. Here is a link to the marine art gallery department at Skipjack.

Guitar World Girls: Lisa J.

Posted 08/24/2012 at 6:44am | by Guitar World

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Here's a photo gallery of Lisa J., the latest addition to the Girls of Guitar World.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Act Now to Help Thousands of Suffering Ferrets

A worker ran over this ferret with a cart and left him to die.
Watch the investigative video.

PETA recently went undercover at Triple F Farms, Inc. (Triple F), a Bradford County, Pa.-based massive ferret-breeding mill whose animals are sold to laboratories around the world, including those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and to pet stores across the U.S., including Petland. PETA's investigation revealed that thousands of ferrets are being kept confined to crowded, filthy, stifling barns, where they suffer from chronic neglect and die on a daily basis.

PETA immediately shared its findings with the CDC, which has—in the last five years—signed contracts worth more than $1.5 million with Triple F for live ferrets used in experiments. Despite this and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) citation of Triple F for repeatedly violating federal law, the CDC has just signed a contract worth $16,750 with this cruel mill for ferrets. We need your help now to end this suffering once and for all.

PETA found that ferrets were kept grouped in small cages with dangerous wire floors, deprived of any opportunity to engage in natural behavior such as burrowing or hiding, and often deprived of food and water. Newborn, young, and adult animals were systematically denied veterinary care, even for painful, life-threatening injuries and conditions. Imagine suffering the neglect that these thousands of ferrets experience every single day. Speak up for these ferrets today by taking action below.

Triple F's owners, supervisors, and workers left ferrets with bleeding rectal prolapses, gaping wounds, infected feet, herniated organs, painful mammary gland infections, and ruptured and bleeding eyes to suffer and die without adequate veterinary care.

The investigator's repeated requests for care and speedy euthanasia to relieve suffering were met with blank stares, shoulder shrugs, and general indifference, as the investigator was instructed to "just leave" ferrets as they were. Many ferrets died slow, painful deaths.

Hundreds of newborn and young ferrets fell through the gaps in the wire cage bottoms 3 feet to the waste-covered concrete floors below, where they were left to writhe and cry. They often died of dehydration or starvation within sight of their mothers and siblings. Triple F forbade its workers—including PETA's investigator—to pick up the dying newborns. These young ferrets are vulnerable and need their mothers. How would you feel if your baby were slowly dying within your sight and you could do nothing about it?

Workers ran over, maimed, and killed young ferrets on the floor with carts. Other live ferrets were stepped on and buried in feces. PETA's investigator also saw ferrets thrown into the trash—and into the facility's incinerator—while still alive. Help prevent other ferrets from being cold-heartedly discarded as "trash" by taking action now.

Triple F did not have a staff veterinarian to examine and treat the 6,000 or more ferrets it keeps confined to its sheds on any given day. Despite claims on Triple F's website that the facility was visited weekly by a veterinarian, PETA's investigator never saw a veterinarian or a veterinary technician at Triple F in nearly four months of working there.

Triple F separates ferrets from their mothers at just 5 weeks of age. Lay employees worked in a dusty "surgery room" and used unsterilized instruments—including dull needles and razor blades—over and over to cut organs and anal sacs from ferrets who were not anesthetized properly and "woke up" and cried out. Read more about PETA's findings here.

The USDA has corroborated PETA's findings, citing Triple F for a dozen violations of the Animal Welfare Act and fining it more than $16,000. The U.S. Department of Labor found 38 further violations of federal law at Triple F, which agreed to pay more than $28,000 to settle the matter.

Please take a moment to urge Alan Kotch, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Procurement and Grants Office, to investigate why the CDC continues to funnel taxpayer dollars into Triple F even though he knows that the company has been cited repeatedly by federal officials for violating the law and that it has had to agree to pay more than $44,000 because of it.

<a href="http://bit.ly/dairycowinfographic"><img src=" http://www.peta.org/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-SiteFiles/Peta-Images-Main-Sections-Features/dairy_2D00_milk_2D00_infographic.jpg" width="720" border="0">
<p>The Life of a Cow - An infographic by the team at PETA </p></a>
PETA COW ISSUE

A Month of Rescued Animals

Humane Society of the U.S.

Our Animal Rescue Team's recent cases

Previous Next

The Animal Rescue Team joined in raids on two suspected dogfighters in Michigan (see video), helping authorities seize 46 dogs. Kathy Milani/The HSUS

In just the last month, our resourceful and caring Animal Rescue Team worked with law enforcement to help rescue 378 animals from cruelty, fighting, and puppy mills.
We act to help animal victims of various kinds of abuse and natural disasters, all around the country.
Details, video, and slideshows of recent rescues

Puppy mill rescues in Mississippi (see video) and North Carolina
A Texas rescue of 298 dogs
Dual raids on suspected dogfighters in Michigan (see video)
A raid of an alleged cockfighting operation in Pennsylvania
Help for horses and other animals threatened by Western wildfires (see a slideshow)

More Animal Rescue Team highlights

Responding to 184 calls on our animal fighting tip line. We turned 166 complaints over to law enforcement, and opened files on 18 as potential targets.
Working with the public and law enforcement on 194 puppy mill reports and 182 cruelty complaints
Noting the conviction of puppy mill operators in North Carolina as a result of an earlier HSUS investigation and raid (see video)
Helping El Dorado County Animal Control identify cockfighting evidence seized during an earlier cockfighting raid (see video) near Placerville, Calif., and helping to arrange for some of the surrendered birds to be taken to sanctuaries
Assisting Holmes County Sheriff's Office with the rescue of 4 horses, 1 mini horse, and a mule from poor conditions in Florida, and arranging assistance with evidence collection, rescue, and transport of the animals. The owner was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.

ASPCA Offers $15,000 Reward in Puppy Cruelty Case

Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 1:15pm

47.8K 877 560 23.4K

Photo credit: Heather Walsh We are devastated to report that a three-month-old Pit Bull puppy named Joey was thrown from a car in Brentwood, Long Island, on Saturday. A witness found the tiny 10-pound pup in a plastic bag near the Sagtikos State Parkway, covered in fleas and crying out for help. Joey suffered three broken vertebrae in his neck and is recovering at the Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island.
The ASPCA is offering a reward of $15,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case. This reward is in addition to a $5,000 reward offered by the Suffolk County SPCA. We are also providing a $10,000 grant to the Veterinary Medical Center to offset some of the costs of treating and caring for Joey.
“We were both outraged and saddened to hear about this disturbing case of violent abuse, and the callousness that was demonstrated by those responsible,” says Matt Bershadker, Senior Vice President of the ASPCA’s Anti-Cruelty Group. “While our ultimate hope is that these types of heinous acts never occur, this is a message that cruelty toward animals will not be tolerated. We are pleased to be in a position to help those who are helping Joey.”
If you have information related to Joey’s case, please contact the Suffolk County SPCA by calling (631) 382-7722.
Animal cruelty is a crime in every state—if you see something, call 911. Please join our battle against animal cruelty today!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

WE DID IT! After nearly 200,000 people -- including you! -- signed our petitions demanding that a woman moderate a presidential debate for the first time in 20 years, it's been confirmed that CNN’s Candy Crowley will moderate one of the presidential debates on October 16.

This is an amazing win -- a moment that proves that when women speak out, our voices are heard.

We were shocked last spring when we learned in our high school civics class that it had been 20 years since a woman last moderated a presidential debate. We're only 16, which means that no woman has moderated a presidential debate in our lifetimes!

We thought this was unacceptable, and we wanted to do something about it. So we started a petition on Change.org. Nearly 200,000 signatures later, we traveled to Washington, DC to deliver our petition to the Commission on Presidential Debates -- but they refused to meet with us, or even to accept our petitions!

We were so angry that the Commission was ignoring us, and ignoring all of you who signed our petitions. So we doubled down our efforts. We talked about our petition on NPR, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, and were featured in The New York Times and USA Today, among others. The Commission may have been afraid to talk to us, but we weren't afraid to tell the world that it was way past time for them to recognize female journalists. We're so excited they came through.

This moment means so much to us, not just because of the part we played in making it happen, but because we think it's so important for little girls all over America to watch the presidential debates and see themselves on the stage of American politics. We want them to look at the television and know that their ideas and questions matter. And to believe that, one day, they could stand on that stage as well.

Thank you so much for making this moment possible. We couldn't have done it without you.

- Emma Axelrod, Sammi Siegel, and Elena Tsemberis

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