Cockfighting loan

[Guest]

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[Jan & John]

Today, I came across this post on a site I have never heard of called Go Petition.

It says "Petition is currently under construction."

I sent a lender message to the Kiva lender who initiated this site and wanted to share my message to him with the forum.  I am doing this only because I want to go on record as continuing to support Kiva even though I disagree with the sport of cockfighting itself.

I saw the "Call on Kiva to Address Cockfighting Loans Issue".
I just wanted to let you know that I do not agree with any kind of blood sports.
That being said, I feel that the fight to stop cockfighting needs to be handled through animal rights organizations and the governments that have not so far outlawed the practice. There is also still much work to be done in countries where policing the laws is also not followed well.
To single out Kiva from this mighty crowd and stop lending through Kiva, in my opinion, will just penalize the poor people who have little control over their own lives, let alone the laws of their country.
I believe helping them gain control of their lives and encouraging education will go much farther than spending your time attacking an organization like Kiva that is trying to do good.
My husband and I will continue to support Kiva in any way possible.

-jan-

 

[Diane R]

Thank you, Jan.  Well said.

--Diane.

[Harvey:)]

Re: Cockfighting loan
« Reply To This #170 on: June 21, 2010, 10:44:33 PM » Quote 

Today, I came across this post on a site I have never heard of called Go Petition.

It says "Petition is currently under construction."

I sent a lender message to the Kiva lender who initiated this site .....

Quote
I saw the "Call on Kiva to Address Cockfighting Loans Issue".
.....
I feel that the fight to stop cockfighting needs to be handled through animal rights organizations and the governments that have not so far outlawed the practice.  .....

-jan-

Sorry for the delay in posting a response but I have been in San Francisco for the past 2 ½ weeks and am only now getting caught up on other things.

Kiva has chosen to promote and support cockfighting by posting cockfighting loans on the Kiva website. By making this choice, Kiva opens itself up for criticism for supporting such a morally reprehensible activity as cockfighting (a bloodsport).

Personally, I applaud David for having the courage to start a petition concerning Kiva and its morally reprehensible stand on cockfighting.

In the previous post, the poster stated the following:
“I feel that the fight to stop cockfighting needs to be handled through animal rights organizations and the governments that have not so far outlawed the practice.”

Those of us who are opposed to animal cruelty and animal torture are the animal rights organizations. With the help of paid and volunteer staff from various humane organizations we are able to address the issue of animal cruelty through various actions such as letter writing, petitions, calling elected officials, boycotts, the news media, picketing, rescuing abused animals, lawsuits, passing legislation, etc.

In the past I have been involved in and helped organize many actions/campaigns, including actions related to the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, Gay rights, the United Farm Workers, animal cruelty, the environment, and many more. Petitions are only one part of any organized campaign. Most organized campaigns involve nationwide petitions, investigative reporting (via newspapers and TV), press releases, boycotts, picketing, leafleting, telephoning, and getting the word out via nationwide newsletters (most of which contain petitions and calls for action) and the internet. Many campaigns also involve legal action in the form of lawsuits or the passage of laws prohibiting an activity (in Kiva’s case, it would be something along the lines of prohibiting the transfer of funds for the purpose of bloodsports or related activity)(and these laws need not be nationwide or even statewide; they can be city or county ordinances).

I am mainly pointing out that petitions are only one very small but very important part of an organized campaign. When an organized campaign to end the posting of bloodsports loans on Kiva is initiated, petitions will be only a small part of that campaign. Most of the energy will be focused on passing a law that prohibits Kiva and any other organizations, businesses or entities from transferring funds for the purpose of bloodsports or related activity. All of the other actions (petitions, media, investigative reporting, telephoning, contacting officials, press releases, leafleting, etc.) are part of exposing the problem and getting the law passed.

Again, thank you, David, for initiating a petition.


Judy


For those of you who want to call me a liar or otherwise personally attack me because of my stand for the humane treatment of animals and my stand against bloodsports, go ahead, but know in advance that I never lie and I never falsify information or pad statistics (which is the same as lying).

[Harvey:)]

"History's verdict is all we have left.  And when tomorrow calls today into account, some of us want to say we stood up.  We called out.  We were not silent."

--Leonard Pitts, Jr., "Gestures of Conscience Bring Solace," Baltimore Sun, March 19, 2006

[Harvey:)]

Great News!  "Hagdan sa Pag-uswag Foundation, Inc. (HSPFI) does not post or support any businesses which are engaged in gambling, businesses which consequently affect the environment and others that can be considered harmful to both human beings and to the nature." (Cockfighting is included in these types of businesses.)   

A couple of months ago there were some questions about two businesses posted on Kiva. After unsuccessfully attempting to contact the MFI (Hagdan sa Pag-uswag Foundation, Inc. (HSPFI)) directly (the e-mail address did not work) a Kiva Friend contacted the parent organization of the MFI and eventually received the following reply:


From: Dianna Andrade <dandrade@opportunity.net>
Subject: Kiva Inquiry
To: Xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: "Haisley,Ian" <IHaisley@opportunity.org>
Date: Monday, June 21, 2010, 9:36 AM

“Dear Xxxxxxxxxx,”

“I am writing to you in  response to the inquiry that you made to Ian Haisley regarding two clients on the Kiva site. I followed up on your inquiry with the President/CEO of APPEND which is the association of all of our partners in the Philippines.  Below is the response that she received from the Senior Internal Auditor at HSPFI.  Please note that although this response makes reference to one of the two clients, I did confirm that this statement is true for both.

‘With regards to the posted story of HSPFI client who is handling a chicken in her photo in which such chicken is the one usually use in cockfighting, we just want to affirm that such client is engage only in raising chickens to sell and not raising chickens for cockfighting purposes.  In fact HSPFI is not accepting clients whose businesses are engage in gambling, businesses which consequently affect the environment and others that can be considered harmful to both human beings and to the nature.’
Melchie B. Badion
Senior Internal Auditor
Hagdan Sa Pag-uswag Foundation, Inc.

Thank you for your concern.
Sincerely,
Dianna

Dianna Andrade
Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer and Chief of Staff, SharePoint Content Coordinator
 
Opportunity International Network
Opportunity Exchange Support 
                                       
___________________________________________________________________

PS: To those who wish to call me a liar or attack me in any other way, go ahead, but please note: This is an informational post. I am posting a letter that was received by a fellow KF (as noted above). Just as I did not write the article that I posted a couple of months ago, I did not write the above letters. So, if anyone has a problem with the content of the letters or thinks the information contained in the letters is incorrect, then contact the appropriate people and discuss it with them, but please do not call me a liar.

[Visitor Number 1]

Great News!  "Hagdan sa Pag-uswag Foundation, Inc. (HSPFI) does not post or support any businesses which are engaged in gambling, businesses which consequently affect the environment and others that can be considered harmful to both human beings and to the nature." (Cockfighting is included in these types of businesses.)   

Hopefully this means this borrower is vindicated for the tarnish against his reputation and business:

This young fellow doesn't look like a chicken farmer to me; it looks like he is holding three dead chickens.  Does anyone have any ideas what this loan could really be for? 

Karen

Carmelito Tunzo
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=169935

I think Karen has every right to question what this loan may be for.

My first reaction when I saw this loan, after it was already funded, was this:
If this man is a chicken farmer, then I am the Virgin Mary.

Personally, I like to know exactly what a loan is for before I fund it. I think a photo displaying the butts, the back legs and the very limp heads of 3 dead chickens is an odd way of displaying a business for raising chickens and an odd way to advertise and ask for a loan for the business. I think a few live chickens running around in the grass might be more effective if the business is really for raising food chickens.

Some of us have ethical and moral reasons for not supporting certain businesses/loans so we would really like to know exactly what a business is doing before we support that business.

Judy

[David2051]

Great News!  "Hagdan sa Pag-uswag Foundation, Inc. (HSPFI) does not post or support any businesses which are engaged in gambling, businesses which consequently affect the environment and others that can be considered harmful to both human beings and to the nature." (Cockfighting is included in these types of businesses.)   

Thanks for the good news Judy!   

[Harvey:)]

More Great News!

The following is from an article in the Huffington Post. (The article concerns bullfighting, a bloodsport. Cockfighting is a bloodsport. I mention this because it has become apparent that some people do not seem to realize that cockfighting is a bloodsport.)

“Bullfighting Ban In Spain: Catalonia Becomes First Major Region To Ban Tradition”   www.huffingtonpost.com

“BARCELONA, Spain — Lawmakers in Catalonia outlawed bullfighting Wednesday, making this Spain's first major region to do so after an impassioned debate that pitted the rights of animals against preserving a pillar of traditional culture. Cheers broke out in the local 135-seat legislature after the ban had passed ..........

Joan Puigcercos, a lawmaker from a Catalan pro-independence party, insisted this was not about politics or national identity but rather ‘the suffering of the animal. That is the question, nothing more.’ He said that even though attendance at bullfights is on the decline in Spain it would be morally wrong to sit back and just let the Spanish national pastime die a natural death. ……….”

Link to full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/bullfighting-ban-in-spain_n_661787.html
___________________________________________________________________

Note: To those who wish to call me a liar or attack me in any other way, go ahead, but please note: This is an informational post. I am posting an article from the Huffington Post (as noted above). Just as I did not write the article that I posted a couple of months ago, I did not write the above article. So, if anyone has a problem with the content of the article or thinks the information contained in the article is incorrect, then contact the appropriate people and discuss it with them, but please do not call me a liar.

[Peter S]

what to make of this, cockfighting going on this very day in California, almost in Kiva's own backyard, about 25 miles northeast of San Francisco as the crow flies...

Dozens of spectators cited at Napa County cock fight

By Lanz Christian Banes
Vallejo Times-Herald
Posted: 07/31/2010 07:56:14 PM PDT
Updated: 07/31/2010 07:56:15 PM PDT

NAPA COUNTY — About 40 or so suspects were cited and released on suspicion of misdemeanor participating in cockfighting Saturday after dozens of law enforcement agents descended upon American Canyon Road.

The initial call came in at about 4:15 p.m. and warned of about 40 suspects fleeing a suspected cockfighting arena in the 1400 block of American Canyon Road. There were also reports of drugs and firearms at the scene, according to a statement released by the Napa County Sheriff's Office.
The area is east and within view of the new American Canyon High School, slated to open this fall.
Arriving deputies saw about 40 people in a caged arena with a cock fight in progress, the sheriff's office said. The crowd scattered on foot through the hilly landscape and were captured by responding deputies and other law enforcement agents.

. . .

About 50 live birds were discovered at the scene, along with two dead ones, officials said.

. . .

full article available at MercuryNews.com

[Kay]

I'm not trying to justify cockfighting, which I deplore, but I found this on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockfight
North America
United States

Cockfighting has a tradition in some American cultures and history. It is said that some founding fathers participated in cockfighting including Washington and Jefferson.[23] With the influx of immigrants from Mexico, Central America and Asia, they have each added new forms of cockfighting.

In the United States, cockfighting is illegal in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.. The last state to implement a state law banning cockfighting was Louisiana; the Louisiana State Legislature voted to approve a Louisiana ban in June 2007.[24] The ban took effect in August 2008.[25] Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have made cockfighting a felony, and it is illegal in 40 states and the District of Columbia to be a spectator at cockfights. Animal welfare activists continue to lobby for a ban on the sport. Cockfighting remains legal in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, although in 2006, the Virgin Islands adopted a law banning the use of artificial spurs.

The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, a federal law that made it a federal crime to transfer cockfighting implements across state or national borders and increasing the penalty for violations of federal animal fighting laws to three years in prison became law in 2007. It passed the House of Representatives 368-39 and the Senate by unanimous consent and was signed into law by President George W. Bush.[26]