Two vital actions, one for US friends

Wikimedia Commons

1. Please click HERE to sign and send automatic message opposing dangerous King amendment

Background | Source WSPA

I want to make you aware of a very dangerous amendment that was proposed late last week in the House of Representatives that could put the protection of animals in the United States in jeopardy.

The King Amendment, proposed by Iowa state Rep. Steve King, would take away a state’s right to pass laws governing the production or manufacturing of any agricultural product, including food and animals raised for food, that is involved in interstate commerce. This broad definition could have a negative impact on a wide range of animal welfare issues from securing better living conditions for farm animals to the banning of the shark finning trade – issues you’ve supported and helped us work on to improve! And, it could also have a harmful effect on food safety requirements and standards – a major concern for most consumers.

Please contact your local representative and ask them to 1) oppose the King amendment and 2) work with their fellow representatives to remove the amendment from the 2012 House Bill. Visit our Action Alert page and send a letter directly to your representative today.


2. Please click HERE to leave below sample message to protect sharks

Sample Comment

Please support listing ALL species of the scalloped hammerhead under the ESA. Doing so would end directed harvest of scalloped hammerhead sharks in all U.S. fisheries; help reduce the number of sharks caught as bycatch in fisheries targeting other species; provide the additional protection of a critical habitat designation in US waters for scalloped hammerheads; and prohibit the importation, sale, and trade of scalloped hammerhead sharks, their parts and/or products, which would help protect this species in other countries and provide the incentive to improve tools and techniques available to accurately identify shark products.

Background | Source Animal Welfare Institute

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) needs your help to win protections for scalloped hammerhead sharks under the Endangered Species Act.

Every year, tens of millions of sharks die a slow, painful, death because of shark finning, with the scalloped hammerhead one of the most overfished due to demand for the shark fin trade. They are also often the victims of bycatch by other fisheries, and are usually not released because of the value of their fins.

On April 5, 2013, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed to list four Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) as “threatened” or “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The listing proposal cites threats from overfishing and inadequate management of foreign fisheries, including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as contributing to the sharks’ precarious situation.

AWI submitted comments to NMFS in January 2012 recommending that all scalloped hammerhead sharks be listed. While we applaud the agency’s intent to list four DPS, we are again calling for protections for all scalloped hammerhead populations and urge you to do the same.

Please visit the NMFS comment page by the June 4, 2013, deadline and ask it to list all species of scalloped hammerhead sharks.

nature relies on balance,
to thrive,
and there is NO balance,
without all her species,
alive.
we cannot continue to
decimate,
by destroying all others,
we also seal our fate.
so manunkind,
open your eyes.
or when you find yourselves
in a barren wasteland,
do not be surprised!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson