**Attention Marin County, California Activists**

This upcoming Monday (November 28th), the Marin Planning Commission is holding a second community meeting to discuss if it will allow slaughterhouses, both permanent and portable, in Marin County.

This is a critical opportunity. Residents who can attend and speak at this meeting in person will have the most impact.  Melissa Flower from In Defense of Animals will be attending this meeting, but we absolutely need strength in numbers. Without a strong community resistance, we run risk of this amendment passing through.

Please come to the Civic Center in San Rafael: 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 328. Together, let’s voice our opposition! If you can arrive slightly before 1:00 p.m. please do.

We also encourage you to email Jeremy Tejirian from the Marin Community Development Agency at JTejirian@marincounty.org to express your opposition.

Here are two key points you may wish to bring up:

• Killing animals is not an isolated behavior, but part of a constellation of anti-social behaviors. A study of 581 US counties from 1992-2002 found that counties with slaughterhouses have higher rates of domestic violence and violent crimes. A new study reports that the presence of a slaughterhouse corresponds with a 166% increase in arrests for rape.
• One of the largest environmental concerns associated with slaughterhouses is wastewater and water contamination. We do not want nitrogen, phosphorus, and ammonia going into our waterways. High nitrate levels in water can cause methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome, a fatal condition that impacts infants under six months. Nitrogen pollution in waterways can also kill aquatic life, and make it much more difficult for fish, insects and other creatures dependent on the water to survive.

To our fellow animal advocates in Marin County, we hope you can make it!

For further information on the Marin Planning Commission meeting, please click here.