Please take action on three issues

Please click on and sign the following:

1. Please End the Use of Live Animals in UW’s Pediatrics Residency

2. Stop Senate Anti-Wolf Legislation

3. Save Cambodia’s Elephants From New Titanium Mine

 


1. BACKGROUND | From PCRM

Please take a minute to ask University of Washington School of Medicine dean Paul G. Ramsey, M.D., to replace the use of ferrets in the school’s pediatrics residency program with validated human-based training methods. We have provided text for you, but if you decide to write your own message, please be polite and encouraging. Here are some talking points:

• Please replace the use of animals in UW’s pediatrics residency.
• Anatomical and physiological differences between ferrets and humans render this type of training suboptimal.
• UW is part of a shrinking minority of pediatrics residencies (less than 15 percent) that still use live animals for training.
• High-fidelity simulators such as Laerdal’s SimNewB and Gaumard’s Premie HAL accurately replicate the airway of a premature newborn and allow for data collection.
• UW already has a state-of-the-art simulation center that can easily provide nonanimal training methods.

MESSAGE TEXT

I am writing to ask that you immediately end the use of ferrets in the University of Washington (UW) pediatrics residency program. The use of live animals for this purpose is cruel and outdated. More than 85 percent of pediatrics residency programs in the United States use nonanimal methods for this type of training. UW already has a state-of-the-art simulation center that can easily provide nonanimal training methods, so there is no justification for the continued use of live ferrets. Further, despite claims to the contrary, medical simulators–such as the Premie HAL from Gaumard–that can replicate the airway of a premature newborn do exist. Please end this cruel and unnecessary practice immediately.

RELATED | From PCRM

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2. BACKGROUND | From DOW

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch has introduced a dangerous bill that would remove federal protections for all gray wolves in the U.S. — a move that would certainly doom the few remaining Mexican gray wolves struggling to survive in Arizona and New Mexico. But it isn’t only the future of wolves at stake. Senator Hatch’s bill permanently exempts a single species from the Endangered Species Act — setting a dangerous precedent for removing protections for some of our most vulnerable wildlife. Take action now: Urge your Senators to reject anti-wolf bills — and defend the integrity of the Endangered Species Act.

MESSAGE TEXT

As a supporter of Defenders of Wildlife, a constituent and someone who cares about wildlife, I strongly urge you to oppose legislation by Senator Orrin Hatch that would eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves across the country.

Senator Hatch’s bill (S.249) would eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for every single wolf in the Southwest, Midwest and Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

This bill would seriously undermine the prospects for long term survival of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies region, the Midwest and the remaining 50 Mexican wolves struggling for survival in New Mexico and Arizona.

If passed, this legislation would also be the first to exempt a single species from the Endangered Species Act, setting a dangerous precedent for removing protections for other imperiled wildlife.

The restoration of wild wolves was one of the most important American conservation achievements of the last century. The Endangered Species Act remains an important tool for saving wildlife from extinction. Neither should be sacrificed for the sake of politics.

For all these reasons, I urge you to reject Senator Hatch’s legislation and any attempts by Congress to prematurely eliminate protections for wild wolves in America or weaken the Endangered Species Act.

Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to your response.

3. BACKGROUND | From Rainforest Rescue

The 5 million-acre Cardamom Mountain rainforest is home to more than 100 endangered Asian elephants — the largest population in Cambodia. But this vital habitat is in danger of being destroyed. It’s not just elephants: The Cardamoms are home to sun bears, Siamese crocodiles and more than half of Cambodia’s bird population.

Moreover, the Cardamom Mountains are one of the last intact rainforests in Southeast Asia. It is a model for conservation and have a burgeoning eco-tourism industry that helps locals make a living without destroying the land. A few years of mineral extraction isn’t worth the permanent damage to the rainforest and the people and wildlife who live there. The United Khmer Group mining company is in the early stages of developing a titanium mine that could devastate the entire ecosystem in the Cardamom Mountains.

The mine would be situated in the middle of the Southwest Elephant Corridor, putting the elephants and at least 74 other endangered or vulnerable species at risk. The Cardamom Mountains are one of the last intact rainforests in Southeast Asia and a model for conservation and community-based sustainable economic development. But the rainforest’s wildlife, and its growing reputation as an ecotourism destination, would be destroyed forever for just a few years of mineral extraction. A decision about the mines is likely to be made this Friday, February 11. Speak up for the elephants. Tell Cambodia’s Minister of Commerce to halt construction of the titanium mine.

MESSAGE TEXT