Promoting safe mosquito control

Posted on by Joan OBrien in Campaigns

The world is losing nature at a remarkable pace, and New Hampshire is no exception. The crisis spares no creature — mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and even the tiniest invertebrates are disappearing.

Contributing to the loss of species is widespread pesticide use. Yet companies promising to rid your yard of mosquitos are popping up everywhere.

Seen a yard sign like this?

Send us the address(es), and we will mail a polite postcard from NH Animal Rights League explaining the dangers of mosquito spraying and offering the homeowner nature-friendly alternatives. Your name will not be mentioned!

Yard signs are typically taken down at the end of the summer. We aim to get postcards out to homeowners before it’s time to renew their contracts.

Send Address *

* If the button doesn’t work for you, just send email to info@nhanimalrights.org

What’s wrong with mosquito spraying?

Homeowners may be told that the mosquito treatment is “organic” or “natural,” but substances found in nature can still be toxic to bees, fireflies, dragonflies, butterflies, and many other insects. 

Often the active ingredient in “organic” mosquito treatments is pyrethins, a byproduct of the Chrysanthemum flower. This may sound harmless, but in high concentrations pyrethin is toxic and will kills insects on contact.

Bees are particulary sensitive to pyrethrin, with lethal doses as low as 0.02 micrograms. Because of this sensitivity and the decline in pollinators, applicators are advised to apply pyrethrins at night when bees are not active.

(Note: Some mosquito control companies do offer a truly safe option, typically a garlic-based repellent; however, this approach is generally mentioned down the list and therefore probably less popular.)

Nature-friendly alternatives to spraying

Here are some simple, inexpensive options for dealing with mosquitos:

  • Remove standing water in your yard.
  • Turn on a fan.
  • Apply insect repellent or cover exposed skin.
  • Create mosquito-free spaces with mosquito curtains or an umbrella mosquito net.
  • Landscape to invite mosquito predators, such as bats, frogs, and dragonflies.

Puppy Stores

Posted on by NHARL in Campaigns
Despite many legislative attempts to ban the retail sale of dogs in New Hampshire, the practice remains legal.

Destruction of Nesting Birds

Posted on by NHARL in Campaigns, In the News

Sign Our Letter

Sign Letter to Hold Market Basket Accountable for Destroying Nesting Birds

On May 13-14, 2024, as part of a parking lot repaving and upgrade project, Market Basket in Milford, NH dredged a half acre of wetland at the entrance to their property. 

Market Basket wetland before dredging (Aug 2023)

Created in 1995, the pond was designed to capture rainwater. Over the decades, cattails filled the area and the pond became a wetland nesting site for red-winged blackbirds and grackles.

In May, blackbirds are actively building nests, sitting on eggs, and feeding hatchlings.

Such was the case at Market Basket, where blackbirds were seen flying in and out of the reeds, to and from their nests.  

Although the Market Basket store manager and the contractor, Continental Paving, were made aware of the presence of the birds, they proceeded with the dredging anyhow.

After being brushed aside when she expressed concern for the birds to the Market Basket store manager, one determined woman stood with a sign to inform shoppers.

Others joined her, some vowing never to shop at Market Basket again.

Concerned citizen informs shoppers

A knowledgeable Milford resident got involved and immediately sent an urgent alert to the state and federal agencies with jurisdiction over migratory birds asking them to step in and protect the birds. 

End of Day 1 (May 13)

By the end of the first day of dredging, more than half the pond was gone and countless blackbird eggs, nestlings, and fledgings had been destroyed.

Adult birds with food and nesting material in their beaks flew about frantically looking for their young.

A red-winged blackbird (circled) searches where his nest used to be.

Day 2 (May 14)

On the second day of the dredging project, we returned, with hope that the agencies charged with protecting birds would intervene. 

Instead, we watched helplessly as the massive digger destroyed the rest of the habitat.

As the excavator advanced relentlessly, we watched as adult birds, having waited as long as they could, finally flew out of the reeds, leaving their young behind. 

We also filmed it.

One protester spotted a lone fledgling and entered the pond to rescue him. Making her way toward the bird, she begged the machine operator to stop, pointing to the baby bird, but he kept going.

Protester enters pond to rescue a fledging.

She was able to scoop up the bird and contacted rehabilitator Maria Colby of Wings of the Dawn for guidance.

Too young to fend for himself, the bird was brought to the rehabilitator for care until he is old enough to be released. 

The lone rescued baby bird

The Fight Is Not Over

The woman who started this campaign by standing alone with a sign outside Market Basket wrote a song about what happened and put it on YouTube:   

While the fight is over for the birds who lost their lives and homes, it is not over for us!

We are working to hold Market Basket accountable and ensure that such reckless disregard for wildlife and wildlife habitat does not happen again.

Kangaroos Are Not Shoes! (Repeat Performance)

Posted on by Joan OBrien in Campaigns, In the News

Chanting “Kangaroos Are Not Shoes — Don’t Be a Dick’s,” the New Hampshire Animal Rights League once again stormed Dick’s Sporting Goods, this time in Concord, calling on the store to stop selling shoes made from kangaroo skins.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is the country’s largest distributor of kangaroo-based soccer cleats made by Germany-based Adidas, Japanese-based Mizuno, and other companies.

Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry kills almost two million wild kangaroos each year. Commercial shooters are permitted to kill mother kangaroos even when the joeys are still in their pouch.

Joeys are left to die, bludgeoned to death, or decapitated (see “Guidelines for euthanasia of dependent young and wounded or injured kangaroos” in Australia’s National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies).   

The kangaroo massacre represents the world’s largest slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.

The protest was in support of the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign by the Center for a Humane Economy. Since the launch of the campaign, Puma, Nike, and New Balance have all announced commitments to halt the sale of kangaroo-based shoes.

A Bit of Media Coverage

Newspaper coverage of our protest caught the attention of InDepth NH reporter Roger Wood, who then interviewed NHARL president Joan O’Brien for his podcast.

Kangaroos Are Not Shoes!

Posted on by Joan OBrien in Campaigns, In the News

Chanting “Kangaroos Are Not Shoes — Don’t Be a Dick’s,” the New Hampshire Animal Rights League stormed Dick’s Sporting Goods at the Mall of New Hampshire calling on the store to stop selling shoes made from kangaroo skins.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is the country’s largest distributor of kangaroo-based soccer cleats made by Germany-based Adidas, Japanese-based Mizuno, and other companies.

Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry kills almost two million wild kangaroos each year. Commercial shooters are permitted to kill mother kangaroos even when the joeys are still in their pouch.

Joeys are left to die, bludgeoned to death, or decapitated (see “Guidelines for euthanasia of dependent young and wounded or injured kangaroos” in Australia’s National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies).   

The kangaroo massacre represents the world’s largest slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.

The protest was in support of the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign by the Center for a Humane Economy. Since the launch of the campaign, Puma, Nike, and New Balance have all announced commitments to halt the sale of kangaroo-based shoes.