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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ

@holly111888.bsky.social

91 followers 89 following 100 posts

Formerly with NASA Climate 🌎 EcoNana writer 🖋️ Rover pet sitter 🐶🐱 DxE LA (animal activism) organizer 🪧🗣️📢 vegan for the animals & the planet 🥗 novelty seeker 🤸🏻‍♂️ pro-democracy 🇺🇸 Ukraine supporter 🇺🇦 and dorkasaur 🤓

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Feb 6

Just planted myself here on Bluesky! Maybe I’ll grow roots in this community. Check out my article on permaculture—let’s cultivate a greener future together! #Permaculture #NewHere earthrisellc.substack.com/p/what-is-pe...

What Is Permaculture? Joshua Tree Course Provides Overview and Community

By Holly Shaftel, EarthRise LLC

earthrisellc.substack.com

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks, Karin! 💕💕💕

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 4d

I wrote this piece! Enjoy!

EcoNana @eco-nana.bsky.social · 5d

Zoos: safe havens for endangered species or prisons with good PR? The captivity debate isn’t black and white — dive into both sides in our latest post. #Zoo #Conservation #Captivity eco-nana.com/zoo-pros-and...

Zoo Pros and Cons: The Captivity Debate

What good does breeding animals in captivity really do? And what role, if any, should zoos play in society?

eco-nana.com

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 8d

Think animals deserve rights?

We do too. The LA chapter of @dxeofficial.bsky.social erected six big banners over the 10 freeway in Mid City during rush hour to push for an Animal Bill of Rights. Check the “countdown” below!

How was your Wednesday? 😉

#RosesLaw #AnimalBillOfRights #BannerDrop

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 18d

My animal activism group, the Los Angeles chapter of @dxeofficial.bsky.social, got a TV segment on Spectrum News 1.

Watch the video, and learn more at perdueabuse.com.

#AnimalRightsActivism #PerdueTrial #TraderJoes

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 18d

How are my monarch caterpillars doing, you ask?

#MonarchButterflies #MonarchCaterpillars #Conservation

Reposted by Holly Shaftel Ⓥ

MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 18d

Meiselas: We need moral clarity. Calling out Trump may cause short-term pain for you as a corporation, but in the long run you'll be better off. True leadership means making tough choices, speaking out under threat, and standing against the lies.

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 18d

Big Ag is spying on thousands of animal advocates—tracking their photos, friendships, even personal lives—and feeding it to cops. Activists aren’t the threat. Cruelty is. ✊🐔🐮🐷 #AnimalRights #Surveillance #BigAg

www.desmog.com/2025/09/19/c...

Revealed: ‘Chilling’ Surveillance of Activists by Meat and Dairy Industry

The U.S. meat industry has engaged in intrusive surveillance of animal rights groups, including monitoring relationships between activists and tracking employees of leading charities. The industry-fun...

www.desmog.com

Reposted by Holly Shaftel Ⓥ

ACLU @aclu.org · 19d

Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after our government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for free speech in our nation.

More than 400 artists across our nation signed on to say: We refuse to be silenced by those in power.

We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech. Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.

Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation. In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.

We know this moment is bigger than us and our industry. Teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression.

Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country. We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.

This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.

A graphic listing the names of the more than 400 signers of the ACLU's letter condemning the federal government's retaliation against Jimmy Kimmel. For the full list of signatories, visit aclu.org/kimmel-letter-bk

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · 23d

Saving suffering animals isn’t a crime — it’s compassion. Laws should reflect that. #AnimalRights

www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Contributor: Why rescuing animals should never be a crime

Saving a dog from a hot car is a brave act. Would you say the same about freeing chickens from a factory farm?

www.latimes.com

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Sep 6

Met a woman who rescues kittens from a kill shelter. If you’re looking for a furry companion, come to Montana and 15th in Santa Monica. The rescuer says she’s there every weekend.

#AnimalRescue #KittenRescue

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Aug 19

Our LA and SD chapters got some press: timesofsandiego.com/business/202...

Possibly more coming!

#AnimalRightsActivism

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Aug 15

The one with the collar looked like she had recently given birth.

Anyway, this is the second time I’ve experienced a dog attack in 1-2 years. I still love canines, but today brings back old memories 😓

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Aug 15

Please keep your dogs in your yard, put collars on them, train and discipline them, and while we’re at it, get them fixed! I got nipped and chased up the street earlier today trying to read the collar on one of three loose dogs to see if there was a phone number. #DogBite

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Aug 15

Please join us on Saturday, 8/16 at noon to protest at Trader Joe’s in Encino, CA. Trader Joe’s continues to sell chicken from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry, a company that routinely criminally abuses these birds.

👉 www.facebook.com/events/13096...

Graphic that says “Trader Joe’s: The Animals Will Be Heard.” On the left is a dark-skinned person speaking into a megaphone, and on the right is a struggling chicken on a factory farm floor.

Reposted by Holly Shaftel Ⓥ

EcoNana @eco-nana.bsky.social · Jul 25

Californians want bold climate action and a cleaner, safer future. There is strong support for offshore wind. #climatechange #climateaction #renewables

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment - Public Policy Institute of California

Key findings of the survey include: Most Californians are very concerned about home insurance costs increasing due to climate-related risks. Less than half are willing to pay more for electricity from...

www.ppic.org

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 30

Equines used to pull carriages suffer from weather extremes, stress, and overexertion. They’re not here to be used as we please. 👎🚫❌🙅🏻‍♀️

#AnimalRights #HorseCarriages

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 30

Even if horse-drawn carriages have a motor, it doesn’t mean the horses are happy!

As someone at PETA once told me, “These rides are perpetuated by tourists. As long as the operators make money, horses will suffer.”

See photos below, observed near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany #AnimalWelfare🧵

Horses attached to carriages near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany

Back of a horse-drawn carriage, where there’s a motor and a license plate reading “E4.”

Back of a horse-drawn carriage, where there’s a sign in German about the carriage company

Two horses attached to a carriage and two people sitting in the front. The carriage is at a stop.

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Reposted by Holly Shaftel Ⓥ

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) @dxeofficial.bsky.social · Jul 24

We are being sued...again. This time, by Scott Fitzpatrick, the Operations Manager at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry.

DxE activists have held 2 protests outside his home, asking him to use his power to stop Petaluma Poultry’s abuse. He has filed a lawsuit in an effort to put a stop to these protests.

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Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 21

Also, don’t ever pay for harmful animal exploitation, such as horse-drawn carriages, elephant rides, and rodeos. (I’ve met horses that were being rehab’d at a sanctuary because their backs were in pain from pulling carriages!)

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 21

Learn from my experience! When documenting animal cruelty, capture more than just photos 😅 Get plate numbers, company names, time, location, driver names if you can, etc.

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 21

PETA gave me Palermo contacts to report to and said to touch base with them if I hear back from anyone. I added in another contact I found online.

One contact got back to me asking for plate numbers, which I didn’t get 🤦🏻‍♀️ We were in a hurry to get to our hotel at the time, so I didn’t think of that.

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 21

I took these photos of horses appearing to be struggling in the Palermo, Sicily heat. When I emailed the photos to PETA’s Cruelty Investigations Dept, they said one horse looked weak and fatigued, while the other looked underweight with slightly overgrown hooves. 🧵

#AnimalCruelty #Italy #Horses

Weak and fatigued horse stopped at a street corner while attached to a carriage that it would pull

Underweight horse with slightly overgrown hooves stopped at a street corner while attached to a carriage that it would pull

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 17

Vera Goat Dairy claims to be “humane,” but @dxeofficial.bsky.social activists found mass graves of mother and baby goats. 💔 Kings County must investigate this cruelty now. Animals aren’t trash.

abc30.com/post/protest...

#GoatGraveyard #AnimalAbuse #AnimalRightsActivism

Protesters ask Kings County officials to investigate Vera Goat Dairy

Animal rights activists from across the state came to Kings County to make their voices heard.

abc30.com

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 15

The choice isn’t protest vs. shopping. It’s compassion vs. complicity.

Holly Shaftel Ⓥ @holly111888.bsky.social · Jul 15

We’re not trespassers — we’re truth-tellers. If Trader Joe’s truly cared about ethics, they’d cut ties with cruelty.