A new relationship with animals, nature and each other.

Posts by Michael Mountain

  • Introducing the Whale Sanctuary Project

    This blog is taking a break for the next few months so that I can devote my energies to the Whale Sanctuary Project. Here's why.

Are You an Extremist?

The nation’s largest coalition of vivisectionists has a new publication advising people who experiment on animals how best to combat the people it calls “animal rights…

The Swan and the Grail

In one of the legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, an orphan teenage boy, Percival, stumbles into the woods surrounding the castle at Camelot, sees a swan flying over the trees, and shoots her down with his bow and arrow.

Brought before the outraged knights, Percival is told that in this forest all life is sacred. Mortified, he breaks his bow, throws it away, and sets out on his famous quest for the Holy Grail, a mythic cup or stone that will bring renewal and hope to the dying king of Camelot, to a land that’s become ravaged by famine, and to a people who have lost their way.

What shall we say of the decision by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation, which is planning to license the killing, by shooting, gassing and beheading, of the state’s entire population of 2,200 mute swans?

The Dogs of Sochi

At least if you’re a human visiting the Sochi Olympics (and despite what we’ve heard about toothpaste bombs, toxic yellow water, and homophobia), you’ll probably make…