HighestWelfare.Humane.Assured.GoodPractices.Vegetarian. Regenerative.Flexitarian.Lies...
What is the difference between No Welfare, High Welfare, and Highest Welfare when they all require animals to die? Only human comfort, NONE protect the actual animals. The most humane, ethical, and honest Webster-defined "welfare" is NOT exploiting animals - not using, not wearing, not eating, not killing - animals. The only meaningful position is vegan, everything else is just how humans euphemize animals' required suffering and violent deaths: no human exploits animals because they honestly believe that NOT exploiting animals is UNethical or INhumane.
Demand End to Torture of Endangered Turtles in Trinidad and Tobago
Extreme Photographer
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA
Every year, endangered leatherback and green sea turtles arrive on the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago to lay their eggs, which local fishermen lie in wait to harvest. The helpless turtles are reportedly then flipped onto their backs and, unable to right themselves, are left for days until they are purchased by traders. They are then killed for their flesh, and the rest of their carcasses are left to rot or are tossed into the garbage. Despite a 2011 ban on the harvesting of sea turtles in Trinidad and Tobago, the killing reportedly continues. Click here to see photos of this tragedy.
Sea turtles are intelligent, peaceful, and graceful animals who spend their lives exploring in the ocean and foraging. As adults, these determined animals migrate in large groups over vast distances—up to thousands of miles—back to the sandy beaches where they were born in order to reproduce. Female sea turtles are known to brave extreme obstacles to get home and are notably loyal to their mates. And largely because of hunting, fishing, and human encroachment, only one in 1,000 leatherback turtles survives to adulthood!
Please contact the below officials and politely urge them to enforce the ban on the harvesting of sea turtles. And please forward this alert widely.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email Block:
info@fplma.gov.tt ; fishdiv@malmr.gov.tt ; info@agriculture.gov.tt
Individual:
The Honourable Devant Maharaj
Minister of Food Production
info@fplma.gov.tt
Fisheries Monitoring, Surveillance and Enforcement Unit
fishdiv@malmr.gov.tt
The Honourable Gary Melville
Secretary of Agriculture, Marine Affairs and the Environment
info@agriculture.gov.tt
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Honourable Maharaj, Honourable Melville, and Enforcement Unit,
Every year, endangered leatherback and green sea turtles arrive on the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago to lay their eggs, which local fishermen lie in wait to harvest. The helpless turtles are reportedly then flipped onto their backs and, unable to right themselves, are left for days until they are purchased by traders. They are then killed for their flesh, and the rest of their carcasses are left to rot or are tossed into the garbage. Despite a 2011 ban on the harvesting of sea turtles in Trinidad and Tobago, the killing reportedly continues.
Turtles are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Despite these human-like conditions, they are still relentlessly and callously killed, and who, when caught, struggle frantically and futilely in an effort to escape.
Please take this opportunity to enforce the important ban on protecting these animals who are vital, in and of themselves, and also, to a fragile ecosystem; I sincerely hope you will demonstrate a commitment to protect, rather than harm, animals.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent appeal.
Sincerely,
NAME
Birds Allegedly Poisoned in Colorado
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA
Concerned citizens of Aurora, Colo., tell PETA that Windcreek Condominiums, managed by Custom Management Group, is using poison to kill unwanted birds on its property! Multiple dead birds as well as suffering, dying birds have reportedly been found on the complex’s grounds by horrified residents. Bird poisons are extremely cruel, attacking and impairing nervous systems and causing disorientation, erratic flight, tremors, and convulsions before an agonizing death. PETA contacted Custom Management Group to ask that the poison be removed immediately, but they have not agreed. Your voice is needed!
Please contact Custom Management Group and urge them to halt any poisoning that may be taking place on their properties. Ask them to employ humane methods that are effective at keeping birds away permanently! And please, forward this e-mail widely.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Custom Management Group
2950 S. Jamaica Ct., Ste. 101
Aurora, CO 80014
303-752-9644
303-751-5188 (fax)
customgrp1@msn.com
Click HERE for free faxing from your computer. No fax machine, credit card, or registering required. Please be certain to confirm you message by clicking on the link sent to your email address or else your fax will not be sent
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Custom Management Group,
It is my understanding that Windcreek Condominiums, managed by Custom Management Group, is allegedly using poison to kill unwanted birds on its property. Multiple dead birds, as well as suffering, dying birds, have reportedly been found on the complex’s grounds by horrified residents.
Bird poisons are extremely cruel, attacking and impairing nervous systems and causing disorientation, erratic flight, tremors, and convulsions before an agonizing death, some from birds falling from the sky to a terrifying death upon impact with the ground. Furthermore, poisons not only cause untold suffering to its direct victims, but also to indirect non-target species, such as cats and wildlife, who consume the birds. Such distinctive symptoms include convulsions, disorientation, pain, and obvious suffering in a lengthy pattern of death.
It is important to add that killing such a large segment of any population creates a void, in which an even larger population will develop due to an increase in food and space resources.
Please adopt a more responsible and humane approach to reducing wildlife interactions; it is negligent to utilize cruel methods that cause immense pain and a slow death when alternative non-lethal methods exist, and I ask you to adopt a responsible solution that doesn’t cause such suffering.
I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this urgent manner.
NAME
Read more…
Five quick petitions, please help wolves, newborn calves, tuna, elephants, and turtles. Thank you.
1. Please click HERE | Source: Environmental Action
I have to warn you, these videos are hard to watch. Wolves caught in brutal traps lie pinned and in pain while hunters shoot them at point blank range. This is what America’s wildlife policy looks like.
After decades of protection, the American Grey Wolf was just barely back from the brink of extinction in 2011. But then Congress made a rash decision to de-list wolves from the Endangered Species Act. Now trapping and killing of wolves is legal, and as you can see it being carried out with brutal efficiency. Already, more than half the wolves that roamed the Rockies and mid-west are dead. If we don’t act soon, there will be none left.
You can help stop this – Don’t look away. Sign HERE and share with friends and family who love the wild things so we can live in a world where wolves, and the wilderness they need to survive, can thrive alongside people.
2. Please click HERE | Source IDA
U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, is an investor in the Moana Restaurant Group that serves veal in four of its restaurants, each called “Piatti,” in Mill Valley, California; La Jolla, California; Denver, Colorado; and San Antonio, Texas. As a public figure and leader who claims to be a proponent of green and sustainable living, she should know better than to endorse and profit from the unspeakable horrors and cruelty that newborn veal calves experience. (photo at left credit: Mercy for Animals)
Please use the form at this link to ask Nancy Pelosi to enforce a No Veal policy at her restaurants today. Veal is NOT green!
3. Please click HERE | Source: Center for Biological Diversity
Atlantic bluefin tuna need your help to recover. Extremely compromised population sizes, along with threats from global warming, ocean acidification and overfishing, have pushed this giant, warm-blooded fish ever closer to extinction.
Canada — home to important fall feeding waters for bluefin — is an important player in bluefin revival. Atlantic bluefin tuna were designated by the Canadian government as endangered in May 2011, and now Canada is making a critical decision on whether to grant legal protections for the fish.
Ask Canada to adopt protections for Atlantic bluefin.
Although overfishing has been linked to one of the greatest factors in the decline of bluefin tuna populations, the fishing industry vocally opposes protections for this depleted species. The high value of bluefin tuna has prevented a stronger recovery plan up till now.
Help give these giants a break from fishing so their endangered population can begin to recover — use the form HERE to support Canadian protections for Atlantic bluefin tuna.
4. Please click HERE | Source: Bloody Ivory
Elephants are still being killed in their thousands for Bloody Ivory. Illegal ivory is still being smuggled out of Africa.
We must stop this happening and support improved protection for elephants.
Your vote counts. Sign HERE now!
Remember to please verify your signature via an email from Bloody Ivory in order for your vote to count!
5. Please click HERE | Source WSPA
More than 100,000 people have spoken out for turtles, helping to spotlight cruelty at the Cayman Turtle Farm. If you’re one of these people, we want to thank you.
The farm management are now under real pressure to stop sea turtle farming and improve conditions: it is time to make sure they act.
We know the farm is listening – hand sanitizer appeared following our evidence of the health risks posed by the filthy tank water. But the changes they are making have not alleviated the intense suffering of thousands sea turtles.
Visitors are still handling the turtles, causing them acute distress. Tanks remain filthy and overcrowded. Even since this campaign launched, fresh wounds have been observed.
But your pressure has created a unique opportunity, one you can help us grasp.
Pressure around the world has compelled the farm to promise an independent assessment of their operation in December.
It’s an assessment they seem surprisingly confident of passing, given the deep-seated and shocking levels of neglect that WSPA’s recent undercover investigation revealed – the results of which demonstrate that there is no humane way to farm sea turtles.
And this is where we need you.
Please email the Cayman Turtle Farm, calling for WSPA’s welfare experts to be involved.
We need to be there in December to ensure that the assessment includes a close look at the welfare of the turtles in the farm’s care, and that it leads to real change for suffering turtles – not least to the end of sea turtle farming.
How to Make Your Voice Heard for Lions
Born Free
BACKGROUND | SOURCE BORN FREE
On Nov. 26, 2012, Born Free USA learned that on the next day the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will publish a notification that our joint petition to list the African lion as endangered under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted. Upon this finding being published in the Federal Register, there will be a 60-day comment period during which the FWS will seek scientific, commercial and other data in support of classifying the lion as endangered.
The FWS will be accepting comments in two forms: electronic and regular mail. Here are instructions taken directly from the FWS:
How to comment electronically: “Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search field, enter Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2012-0025, which is the docket number for this action. Then click on the Search button. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment Now!” If your comments will fit in the provided comment box, please use this feature of http://www.regulations.gov, as it is most compatible with our comment review procedures. If you attach your comments as a separate document, our preferred file format is Microsoft Word. If you attach multiple comments (such as form letters), our preferred format is a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.”
To maximize effectiveness, please personalize your comments to the extent you can.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please click HERE to submit an electronic comment
Via Regular Mail:
Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R9-ES-2012-0025
Division of Policy and Directives Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive
MS 2042PDM
Arlington, VA 22203
SAMPLE COMMENT
As a supporter of Born Free USA and a lover of wildlife, I implore you to list the African lion as “endangered” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This magnificent species is under attack from many directions, including habitat loss, retaliatory killings, and disease.
But possibly the biggest major threat to lions comes from the United States, which is — by far — the world’s largest importer of lions and lion parts. By listing them as endangered, we will assume a leading role in lion protection, and no doubt will inspire other countries to at least pay attention and probably follow our good example.
In the past quarter-century, African lions’ population has been more than cut in half. It now is estimated that fewer than 35,000 live in the wild today, and if those numbers drop much more, the species survival across its range will be in grave doubt.
Please list the African lion as “endangered” under the United States Endangered Species Act. Thank you for your consideration, and for doing the right thing for lions.
Read more…
Down Production: Birds Abused for Their Feathers
Background | Source PETA
The coldhearted and cruel down industry often plucks geese alive in order to get their down— the soft layer of feathers closest to a bird’s skin. These feathers are used to produce clothing and comforters, but for geese, the down industry’s methods are anything but comfortable.
Undercover video footage shows employees on goose farms pulling fistfuls of feathers out of live birds, often causing bloody wounds as the animals shriek in terror. The frightened animals are often squeezed upside down between workers’ knees during the painful procedure—in one instance, an investigator photographed a worker who was sitting on a goose’s neck in order to prevent her from escaping.
Live plucking causes birds considerable pain and distress. Once their feathers are ripped out, many of the birds, paralyzed with fear, are left with gaping wounds—some even die as a result of the procedure. Workers often sew the birds’ skin back together without using any anesthetics.
That’s not all—buying down can also support the cruelty of the foie gras and meat industries because many farmers who raise birds for food make an extra profit by selling their feathers as well. When these birds are slaughtered, they often have their throats cut or are dumped into tanks of scalding-hot water while they’re still conscious.
How You Can Help
It’s impossible to tell whether the down used in the products you buy was obtained from live-plucked birds. The only way to stop live plucking and ensure that no birds suffer for your clothing or bedding is to choose cruelty-free materials. Please make the compassionate choice to sign the pledge to go down-free now!
If you haven’t already done so, please share this information on Facebook and Twitter with everyone you know so that they, too, can make the compassionate choice to pledge to be down-free. You can also spread the word to everyone that you come in contact with by wearing “Down Hurts” merchandise! That way, everyone will know that the down industry abuses birds.
See More: Fur | Skin
Read more…
Seven quick online petitions: please help horses, rabbits, greyhounds, cats, and elephant | One dolphin alert
Petfinder
1. Please click HERE | Source American Wild Horse Preservation
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has an almost ideal management program for the McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA) outside Cody, Wyoming. Over the past several years, the BLM has successfully implemented a PZP fertility control program, which has already attained zero population growth in this very popular herd. The BLM has also established a very productive partnership with an excellent community organization, Friends of a Legacy (FOAL), for the stewardship of the McCullough Peaks horses and their habitat. Unfortunately, the BLM is not willing to allow the time necessary for fertility control to reduce the size of this small herd. Instead, the agency is proposing the removal of 20 young horses via bait trapping. Let’s convince the BLM to do the right thing and leave these much-cherished horses with their families at home on the range.
2. Please click HERE | Source American Wild Horse Preservation
BLM Utah is proposing to remove 160 wild horses from a small herd that lives in the Swasey HMA, which is located two hours southwest of Provo. Please take a moment to tell BLM Utah that you support the implementation of a humane fertility control (i.e. PZP-22) program in this HMA, but oppose removals and skewing of the natural sex ratio on the range. With nearly 50,000 wild horses in government holding facilities, it’s high time the BLM stops removing and stockpiling horses and starts managing them safely and humanely on the range where they belong.
3. Please click HERE | Source American Wild Horse Preservation
BLM Wyoming is once again targeting wild horses in the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek HMAs in Wyoming. For the second time in less than three years, the agency is proposing another massive roundup and removal of these wild horses. In advancing this unnecessary plan, the BLM is taking its marching orders from local ranchers who are pressing hard for removal of all wild horses from this area. Please take a moment to tell the BLM that Americans oppose the mass extermination of wild horses in Wyoming, and that ranchers must be persuaded to tolerate America’s wild horses in exchange for the privilege of grazing their livestock on our public lands thanks to our generous tax subsidies.
4. Please click HERE | Source PETA
Despite knowing about the suffering that goes into every fur hat, scarf, and coat, bebe continues to sell fur. Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages that are so small they prevent animals from taking more than a few steps in any direction. Wire cages cut into rabbits’ delicate foot pads, and the animals are denied the opportunity to engage in natural behavior such as running and burrowing. Fur farmers use the cheapest killing methods available, including neck-breaking, suffocation, poisoning, and genital electrocution. Crude killing methods aren’t always effective, and sometimes animals “wake up” while they are being skinned. One of the best ways that you can help animals who are beaten and tortured for their fur is to tell bebe’s executives that you won’t buy while animals die.
Please don’t shop at bebe, and let the company know why! Use the form at the link above to tell bebe’s CEO to dump fur and let him know that you will not shop at bebe until all real fur is off the shelves.
5. Please click HERE | Source Animal Rescue Site
Greyhounds are loving animals and make great pets, but unfortunately they are regarded as mere money-making machines in the hunting world. The Spanish greyhound is an ancient breed of dog that is widely used as a hunting companion during Spain’s hunting season. However, at the end of the hunting seasons, the dogs are discarded like garbage.
If you walk along the streets of certain Spanish towns at the end of the hunting season, you will see skinny and starving dogs hoping to find scraps of food outside restaurants or lying on the sidewalk while people simply walk by unaffected.
During their short lifetimes these dogs are treated solely as property and do not receive human contact. When it’s time to get rid of them, the hunters simply let them free to fend for themselves, or worse, hang them. They often watch for entertainment.
Call on Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to strengthen the country’s animal protection laws.
6. Please click HERE | Source Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary
The world-famous Torre Argentina cat sanctuary in Rome is under threat of being shut down by the city due mostly to archaeological concerns. An all-volunteer shelter, they take care of 150-180 cats at a time, and over the past 20 years they have neutered close to 29,000 cats.
Please sign this petition HERE and forward it to your friends and like-minded lists.
The following article appeared in the NY Times on November 7th:
Strays Amid Rome Ruins Set Off a Culture Clash
Thank you.
7. Please click HERE | Source PETA Asia-Pacific
Authorities in India have still not transferred Sunder, a 13-year-old elephant who had been chained for years at the Jyotiba Temple in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, to a sanctuary—despite Maharashtra Minister of Forests Dr. Patangrao Kadam’s order calling for Sunder’s release. Authorities have the responsibility to follow the Kadam’s order but seem to lack the will to do so. It is thought that Sunder has been hidden by temple authorities in a dark, heavily guarded poultry shed behind a dairy facility.
Sunder has been denied freedom of movement, and on the rare occasions when he was taken for a short walk at the temple, he was kept in spiked chains. Because of the abusive treatment at the hands of his mahout, Sunder was found by PETA India with wounds all over his body and a damaged eye.
Elephants are highly intelligent and social animals. In nature, they spend around 18 hours a day walking, feeding, bathing in watering holes, and interacting with other elephants, and females live in close-knit family groups for life. Elephants held in captivity are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to a lifetime of confinement, boredom, loneliness, and abuse. Constantly kept in chains, many exhibit signs of mental illness, including repetitive swaying, rocking, and head-bobbing. The chains also cause painful wounds and pressure sores, which often become infected. The lack of exercise and the years spent standing on hard concrete amid their own waste lead to painful and crippling foot ailments and arthritis. The severe confinement has led Sunder to act out in frustration, creating a risk for temple authorities and visitors.
Please help PETA India in urging authorities to immediately transfer Sunder to a sanctuary.
Online Alert | Source Animal Legal and Defense Fund
$5,000 Reward Offered for Information Leading to Arrest of Dolphin Killers
The national nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) who brutally slaughtered and mutilated dolphins off the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Marine authorities, who believe that the offender(s) are on a killing spree, note that the dolphins are not only being killed, but also mutilated. On Friday, a team from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) found a dolphin with her lower jaw missing. Last weekend, a dolphin was shot through his abdomen by a 9mm gun. Other dolphins have had stab wounds.
Cruelty to dolphins, which includes harassing, harming, or feeding wild dolphins, is a federal crime. Under the provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that provides for penalties—16 USC § 1375 (a)—offenders can be fined civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation. Criminal penalties include up to $20,000 per violation and/or one year in prison for each violation. Feeding wild dolphins is included in the act because it causes them to become trusting of humans and to approach fishing boats for food. Recreational and commercial fishermen are asked for especially increased vigilance and to report anyone harming dolphins.
Recent months have seen an increase in these ruthless attacks. In Louisiana, a dolphin washed up with her tail cut off. In Alabama, a dolphin was stabbed with a screwdriver and killed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has put law enforcement and coastal service teams on “heightened awareness,” asking agencies to document every dolphin found as they build a case to prosecute offenders.
“The individuals responsible for these attacks pose a serious threat to our communities. Anyone capable of such brazen cruelty is a menace not only to marine mammals, but also to humans,” says Stephen Wells, ALDF executive director. “It is well-established that abusers repeat violent crimes against helpless animals, and often go on to victimize people as well.”
If you have information relating to the identity of the person or persons who mutilated and killed Gulf Coast dolphins, please contact the Animal Legal Defense Fund at 707-795-2533, x1010.
Read more…
Give a Meaningful Sentence to Accused Cat Mutilator, Andrew Bekech
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND (ALDF)
Among the criminal charges pending against Andrew Bekech are two counts of felony animal cruelty related to the alleged abuse of his ex-girlfriend’s cats. Mr. Bekech was arrested in September 2012 after a domestic violence investigation reportedly revealed several incidents involving physical attacks on the woman’s cats. One of the cats—Little Man—reportedly continues to recover after losing part of his tail as well as a portion of his tongue.
The Bekech case is but one of countless cases illustrating the grave connection between domestic violence and animal abuse. Abusers often threaten and carry out acts of animal cruelty, taking advantage of their human victim’s bond with their animal(s) as a means of intimidation and control.
It is not unusual for women to cite fear for the safety of their animals as a reason for not entering a shelter to escape their abusers. In a 2007 study, for example:”The vast majority of shelter women described being emotionally close to their pets and distraught by the abuse family pets experienced.”
WHOM TO CONTACT
Locals especially are encouraged to write polite letters to State’s Attorney Platt, thanking her office for its earnest attention to this case to date, and encouraging that a strong and meaningful sentence be pursued upon conviction.
The Honorable Maureen Platt, State’s Attorney
Geographical Area No. 4
400 Grand Street
Waterbury, CT 06702
conndcj@ct.gov
Defendant: Andrew Eugene Bekech
Waterbury Superior Court case #U04W-CR12-0411324-S
Locals are additionally encouraged to support the prosecution by attending the criminal proceedings. A hearing in the Bekech case is currently scheduled for Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 10:00am. (Always contact the Court to confirm court dates and locations as they are subject to change.)
Waterbury Superior Court
Geographical Area 4
400 Grand Street
Waterbury, CT 06702
203-735-7438
SAMPLE LETTER
Regarding Defendant: Andrew Eugene Bekech
Waterbury Superior Court case #U04W-CR12-0411324-S
Dear Honorable State’s Attorney Platt,
Among the criminal charges pending against Andrew Bekech are two counts of felony animal cruelty related to the alleged abuse of his ex-girlfriend’s cats. Mr. Bekech was arrested in September 2012 after a domestic violence investigation reportedly revealed several incidents involving physical attacks on the woman’s cats. One of the cats—Little Man—reportedly continues to recover after losing part of his tail as well as a portion of his tongue.
The Bekech case is but one of countless cases illustrating the grave connection between domestic violence and animal abuse. Abusers often threaten and carry out acts of animal cruelty, taking advantage of their human victim’s bond with their animal(s) as a means of intimidation and control.
When I try to imagine what possible motive animal abusers entertain for subjecting their animal victims to such malicious, heinous acts of brutality, I fail, but I am thankful for a lack of cognitive understanding and rationalization. To engage in such malevolent behaviour absolutely suggests sociopathic and sadistic tendencies and demonstrates an incontrovertible lack of morality regarding other living beings and a gross disrespect for the law. In fact, a person who shows such a remarkable lack of compassion towards animals has, disturbingly enough and as noted above, the ability to show such indifference towards humans. This link between animal and human abuse has been established, and if we excuse or ignore such negligence and suffering, we would be serving an injustice to both animals and society.
We must do everything in our power to allocate necessary resources to investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of animal cruelty cases and to ensure the ongoing care, treatment, and welfare of the animal and human victims. Please ensure that you have done everything legally possible to mandate the most severe penalties against Mr. Andrew Eugene Bekech.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
Read more…
Don’t let wolves continue to be killed in Minnesota.
Wikimedia Commons
Please click and sign HERE
Source Center for Biological Diversity
Background
Minnesota’s wolves urgently need your help. After Great Lakes wolves lost federal protection under the Endangered Species Act earlier this year, state managers rushed to authorize wolf hunting and trapping seasons. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit to stop the sport killing of wolves, but state courts refused to take action.
Hunters shot and needlessly killed more than 120 of Minnesota’s wolves in the first 12 days of the hunt. The state’s goal is to kill 400 by the end of the season.
Wolf trapping season began Nov. 24, and hundreds more of these beautiful and intelligent animals will suffer and die in gruesome leghold traps and snares.
Wolves are an essential part of the American wildscape. They regulate prey populations and help maintain biodiversity. Sport hunting and trapping may actually exacerbate problems between domestic animals and wolves. Sport killings disrupt pack dynamics and create lone wolves that are more apt to target livestock or pets out of desperation.
Don’t let wolves continue to be killed for sport in Minnesota. Tell Gov. Mark Dayton and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to oppose sport hunting and trapping of wolves and help halt all unnecessary killing.
Petition Letter | Use edited text below
As you are aware, almost 80% of DNR survey respondents, including both wildlife enthusiasts and hunters, made it clear they do not want a wolf hunting and trapping season in Minnesota. I am aware the DNR is not under any legal obligation to proceed with a wolf hunt and that you have the authority to stop it. There is no biological reason to hunt wolves. The wolf population has been stable since 1998 without hunting and trapping. Depredating wolves are being trapped by USDA and DNR certified trappers. This is a sport season, pure and simple. Recreational killing.
Wolves are more valuable to us all alive. Minnesotans value wolves and want to embrace a sustainable wolf management plan that favors the use of effective non-lethal means to manage conflicts. With the largest population of biologically diverse wolves in the lower 48, we have a responsibility to manage our wolves in accordance with the high social and sustainable economic value they represent to all of our residents.
An open season on wolves is not in the interest of wolves, nor of Minnesota. I strongly urge you to use your authority to cancel the wolf hunting and trapping season immediately. We must err on the side of caution; too much is at stake to do anything less.
Read more…
Links to Fur-Free Friday events in your area
PETA’s 2012 Fur-Free Friday demonstrations in your area
IDA’s 2012 Fur-Free Friday demonstrations in your area
Animal Protection Norway and Network for Animal Freedom reveals the new horror pictures from Norwegian fur farms. Fur industry has received numerous attempts to “improve animal welfare.” Nevertheless, we can for the fourth time since 2008 reveal extensive animal cruelty on Norwegian fur farms.
A Government Committee is now considering (2012-2013) the industry should be prohibited in Norway. Fur farming can never be consistent with good animal welfare. We therefore expect that the government will start arranging fur industry.
In summer and autumn, the two animal protection organization made unannounced inspections of 24 fur farms from Troms in the north to Agder in the south. Many thousands of pictures and several hours of video documentation from fur farms show that mink and fox suffering on Norwegian fur farms every day.
Source IDA
Over the last twenty-six years, Fur Free Friday has grown to become the largest animal rights demonstration of the year. Don’t miss your opportunity on November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, to join with thousands of activists worldwide for this important international day of action! Please check out our 2012 list of events to find a demonstration in your area.
If you have any questions about Fur Free Friday, or IDA’s fur campaign, please contact Christy Griffin at Christy@idausa.org.
Source PETA
You know all about the callous fur industry—that 50 million animals are killed every year in the name of fashion, that dogs and cats are skinned in China and then labeled as other animals for U.S. buyers, and that many animals are skinned alive.
The next thing to learn? How to spread the word.
Talking about fur with someone wearing fur can be intimidating, but if you follow these tips, you’ll be more likely to create an ally against the fur trade. Watch now:
Now that you know how, get out there and speak up for animals used for their fur. Joining a Fur-Free Friday demonstration in your area is the perfect way to try out your new activism skills.
Read more…
Please cease barbaric fox penning in Virginia
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE NBC 29
Some call it a sport and others call it animal cruelty, now some state lawmakers want Virginia to ban a practice called fox penning.
It’s supposed to be a training mechanism for hunting dogs but Virginia’s chapter of the Humane Society of the United States says it has gotten out of hand, and needs to stop. Now, fox penning has caught lawmakers’ attention.
Video provided by the Humane Society, shows a pack of dogs attacking and killing a wild fox. It’s called fox penning, where foxes are trapped so bloodhounds can learn how to hunt them.
37th District State Senator Dave Marsden (D) stated, “We need these pens banned.”
Marsden says it started out as a training tool that got way out of hand. “It’s not just about training hounds anymore,” he said. “This is what the hounds do. They have competitions to determine, and you can declare a champion.”
Please read more HERE.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please click HERE for online webform
SAMPLE LETTER | SOURCE ANTI-FUR SOCIETY
Dear Governor McDonnell,
Fox Penning is a cruel blood-sport that is allowed in Virginia, along with 19 other states. Virginia is one of the states with the best animal welfare legislation, yet foxes in Virginia suffer everyday, especially during hunting season from repeated acts of cruelty.
Foxes are captured and traded across state lines to be thrown in a 100-acre pen with no way to escape while they are chased, hunted down, and ripped apart by hounds.
I ask Virginia to ban this cruel blood-sport. Regrettably, until this senseless barbarism ceases, I would be unable to consider Virginia a recreation or vacation destination.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this vital appeal.
Sincerely,
NAME
Read more…
Four petitions: horses, sharks, anti-fur, greyhounds, please sign
Wikimedia Commons
1. Please click and sign HERE
Background | Source Change
Wild horses are a native species to America. Rounding up federally protected wild horses and burros has been documented as cruel. Warehousing them for decades is fiscally irresponsible. Clearing mustangs and burros off public land — for industrialization, fracking, grazing and the water grab — goes against the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act put in place to protect the living legends of the American West.
We request you de-fund the roundups immediately.
There is no accurate census and the Bureau of Land Management figures do not add up. We request an independent census because we are concerned there are less than 18,000 wild horses and burros in the 10 western states combined. More roundups will wipe them out.
They are not overpopulating despite spin from the forces that want to perform heinous sterilizations in the field. Fertility control can be looked at as an option after a census has been taken but now that’s premature.
Field observers have noticed a worrisome decline in wild horse and burro population since the BLM’s rampant roundups from 2009 to this day.
The Associated Press reports another 3,500 wild horses will be rounded up http://www.idahopress.com/news/state/feds-plan-roundup-for-wild-horses-burros/article_5f02fad7-d0c5-52d4-ae5f-5e1e8c9b0c20.html
Kindly allow native wild horses and the burros to reverse desertification, reduce the fuel for wildfires and create biodiversity on public land–while living with their families in freedom.
Petition Text
United States Congress
De-fund the Roundups: Wild horses are a native species to America. Rounding up federally protected wild horses has been documented as cruel and fiscally irresponsible. Clearing mustangs off public land–for industrialization and fracking–goes against the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act put in place to protect the living legends of the American West.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
2. Please click and sign HERE
Background | Source Center for Biological Diversity
Great white sharks need your help: Off the coast of California only a few hundred survive, making them vulnerable to extinction. This iconic predator of the sea needs protection to keep its mighty form from vanishing off our shores.
Jaws and other blockbusters have portrayed sharks as fearsome man-eaters, but a person is 15 times as likely to be killed by a coconut than a shark. In reality we humans are far more dangerous to sharks than they are to us. White sharks face many threats, like fisheries that kill baby sharks as bycatch before they can mature, climate change and ocean pollution.
The government is considering protecting great white sharks under the Endangered Species Act.
Please take action to tell the feds and California wildlife officials you support protecting these much-maligned hunters in U.S. waters.
Petition Text
I am writing in support of protecting the great white shark as a threatened or endangered species. Sharks are a vital part of the ocean ecosystem, and conserving these top predators is essential to a healthy ocean.
Don’t let white sharks get wiped out by fisheries and other threats. To ensure the continued survival of great white sharks in U.S. waters, we need better ocean management and conservation of these mighty sharks and their “critical habitat.”
I encourage you to grant northeastern Pacific great white sharks the protections under our wildlife-protection laws they need to continue to survive and thrive.
Thank you.
3. Please click and sign HERE
Background | Source Anti-Fur Society
We keep one permanent, single petition list for our anti-fur campaigns. Your signature will enable us to submit many types petitions to organizations such pro-fur councils, requests to government agencies and other related appeals on behalf of fur animals. By signing this petition, you agree to let your name be used on all petitions produced by anti-fur society regarding requests to stop the use of fur. Your support goes a long way towards stopping the abuse of animals world wide.
Sample comment
Please make both the ethical and responsible decision to discontinue your commercial support of fur immediately: join an increasing body of corporations who are listening to a concerned and attentive consumer population who refuse to be complicit in the inherently malicious industry of fur farming. I hope this letter finds you willing to scrutinize your own involvement and desire to protect rather than harm animals.
4. Please click and sign HERE
Background | Source Change
GREY2K USA has learned that a bill will be filed in Austin to breathe new life into Gulf Greyhound Park. Specifically, Texas Senate Joint Resolution 6 is a constitutional amendment that seeks to legalize expanded gambling at racetracks and that earmarks slot machine profits to prop up live greyhound racing.
Parimutuel wagering was first legalized in the Lone Star state in 1986. Thankfully, there is now one dog track regularly conducting live greyhound racing – Gulf Greyhound Park of La Marque. But two other greyhound facilities, Valley Race Park and Gulf Coast Racing, have shown interest in following suit.
We can’t let this happen!
According to records obtained from the Texas Racing Commission, 1,351 greyhound injuries were reported at Gulf Greyhound Park between January 2008 and August 4, 2011. During this same period, forty-nine greyhounds died or were euthanized. The most commonly reported injury was a broken leg. Other reported injuries include torn muscles, puncture wounds, lacerations, dislocations, sprains, paralysis and a fractured skull. Read our full report here.
Additionally, evidence has recently surfaced exposing the use of live lure training in the state.
Help us fight the proposed subsidy now. We are very close to the end of dog racing in Texas. It would be a terrible tragedy if this cruel activity were to be bailed out now. Please sign our petition to all members of the Texas Senate and ask them to reject this misguided attempt to prop up cruelty to greyhound racing.
Petition Text
As you know, there is currently just one fully operational dog track in Texas, Gulf Greyhound Park of La Marque. According to the Texas Racing Commission, more than 1,300 greyhound injuries were reported there between 2008 and August 2011 and forty-nine dogs died or were euthanized. Additionally, evidence has recently surfaced exposing the use of small animals for training greyhounds in the state.
Please do not allow this cruelty to continue and expand. Please reject SJR 6 or any other bill that seeks to prop up dog racing in the Lone Star State.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Demand Justice for Allegedly Poisoned Dogs
Wikimedia Commons, not Atlas
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA
According to public records and media reports, San Clemente, California resident Ray Haines illegally set out a bowl of dog food laced with the toxic drain cleaner Drano in his yard to kill “nuisance” wildlife on April 9, 2012. The food was reportedly placed just 8 feet from the neighbor’s fence. Atlas, a German shepherd mix, and Diablito, an 8-pound dog, were both sickened and suffered convulsions after apparently eating the concoction, and while a veterinarian was able to save Atlas, Diablito sadly perished. News sources state that an empty can of dog food, a bottle of Drano, a mixing bowl, and a spoon were later found on Haines’ property.
California law makes it illegal to poison animals, and Haines has reportedly admitted to the act. However, charges of cruelty to animals have yet to be filed against him! Please contact the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and politely request that charges be filed against Ray Haines for his alleged actions.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please send polite comments to:
The Honorable Tony Rackauckas
District Attorney
Orange County Office of the District Attorney
401 Civic Center Dr.
Santa Ana, CA 92701
prosecution@da.ocgov.com
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Honorable District Attorney Rackauckas,
According to public records and media reports, San Clemente, California resident Ray Haines illegally set out a bowl of dog food laced with the toxic drain cleaner Drano in his yard to kill “nuisance” wildlife on April 9, 2012. The food was reportedly placed just 8 feet from the neighbor’s fence. Atlas, a German shepherd mix, and Diablito, an 8-pound dog, were both sickened and suffered convulsions after apparently eating the concoction, and while a veterinarian was able to save Atlas, Diablito sadly perished. News sources state that an empty can of dog food, a bottle of Drano, a mixing bowl, and a spoon were later found on Haines’ property. California law makes it illegal to poison animals, and Haines has reportedly admitted to the act. However, charges of cruelty to animals have yet to be filed against him. Please take immediate action to prosecute Ray Haines.
When I try to imagine what possible motive animal abusers entertain for subjecting their animal victims to such malicious, heinous acts of brutality, I fail, but I am thankful for a lack of cognitive understanding and rationalization. To engage in such malevolent behaviour absolutely suggests sociopathic and sadistic tendencies and demonstrates an incontrovertible lack of morality regarding other living beings and a gross disrespect for the law. In fact, a person who shows such a remarkable lack of compassion towards animals has, disturbingly enough, the ability to show such indifference towards humans. This link between animal and human abuse has been established, and if we excuse or ignore such negligence and suffering, we would be serving an injustice to both animals and society.
We must do everything in our power to allocate necessary resources to investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of animal cruelty cases and to ensure the ongoing care, treatment, and welfare of the animal victims. Please ensure that you have done everything legally possible to mandate prosecution against Ray Haines.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
Read more…
Please send email to stop coyote killing contest in New Mexico
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE KRQE
A repulsive killing contest or the right to reduce dangerous predators?
The controversial coyote killing contest has the village of Los Lunas divided.
Protestors and supporters lined main street Saturday, and police were even called out to keep the peace.
“It’s not about hunting! It’s about being cruel!” shouted one protestor.
About two dozen people held signs demanding the gun store cancel the protests. Signs read “Mass murder coyotes? Howl no!!” and “This is not a contest, it’s a massacre.”
The uproar is caused by a controversial coyote hunting contest held by Gunhawk Firearms. The shop is offering a reward for the hunter who bags the most coyotes in a weekend. It was an idea spurred by Calibers, an Albuquerque gun shop. They canceled their contest after severe backlash from customers and activists.
Please read more HERE
WHOM TO CONTACT
Block:
bruce.swingle@co.valencia.nm.us ; vialpando@loslunasnm.gov ; jjuen@blm.gov
Individual:
County Manager Bruce Swingle: bruce.swingle@co.valencia.nm.us
Mayor Robert Vialpando: vialpando@loslunasnm.gov
BLM State Director Jesse Juen: jjuen@blm.gov
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Valencia County Manager Swingle, Los Lunas Mayor Vialpando, and Executive Director of the Bureau of Land Management Juen:
I am outraged about the coyote killing contest hosted by Gunhawk Firearms in Los Lunas, New Mexico. Despite enormous public outcry, the owner of Gunhawk Firearms is “dug in” and has said “the hunt will go on”. The participants are putting ego ahead of moral and ethical values. A mass body count is excessive and unnecessary cruelty to these coyotes. The owner of the gun shop is using this killing spree to promote his shop at the expense of the lives of sentient coyotes. Furthermore, the owner will not divulge to the public where the hunt is taking place throughout New Mexico on public lands, thereby putting New Mexico visitors and residents at risk of being harmed while they are on these public lands of the hunt.
I implore you to please do all you can to stop this terrible contest.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
Read more…
Second appeal: Stop Casey from continuing to house chimps
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PRIMATE PATROL
Last week in Las Vegas, Clark County held a hearing about whether Mike Casey should be granted a permit to continue to house his exotic animals in an RV in his backyard. Casey is the person responsible for breeding and selling Travis, the chimpanzee who mauled Charla Nash in Connecticut in 2009.
Chimpanzees, as we know, should be with their mothers when they are young. Though no chimpanzee should have to live in captivity, since they can’t be returned to the wild they should live in a sanctuary where their social, psychological, and physical needs can be met. And, of course, no chimpanzee should ever be forced to perform. Casey has bred chimpanzees like Travis who have become pets or used by the entertainment industry.
Casey has a record of abuse. He has reportedly beaten his chimps with his fists, thrown hot water on them, and hit them with a rod.
Chimpanzees are wild animals, and they can and will bite. It is within their nature to be violently aggressive, even toward their closest friends. As we know in the case of Travis, humans are simply not built to take the aggression that chimps can inflict on others. Housing chimpanzees so close to human homes is dangerous.
Despite these issues, Casey made his case to the Enterprise Town Advisory Board, and the permit request is moving forward to the County Commission on November 21st.
Act now and suggest that the county deny his request. Ask that the chimpanzees be sent to a reputable sanctuary where they belong. You can use the sample letter below or write one of your own, and send it to the County Commission District G .
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email: ccdistg@ClarkCountyNV.gov
BCC: PrimatePatrol@ChimpSanctuaryNW.org
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Commissioners,
I am greatly concerned about James “Mike” Casey’s permit application to house chimpanzees on his property. This is a danger to the nearby residents. Chimpanzees have been known to escape and attack humans, causing severe injuries. One infamous case is of Travis, one of the chimpanzees Casey bred, who was shot after he attacked his neighbor and nearly ripped her face off.
In addition to public safety concerns, the welfare of these individual chimpanzees is also at stake. Casey has a history of animal abuse. The chimpanzees are housed in small, reportedly unsanitary conditions. They should be where their physical, psychological, and social needs can be met. A reputable sanctuary would dedicate resources to ensuring quality lifetime care for these chimpanzees. It is what they deserve.
I hope the Commission will choose to make the compassionate and safe decision to deny the permit to keep these chimpanzees in a residential neighborhood. Thank you for your consideration of my comments.
NAME
Read more…
Urge PETCO to Stop Selling Wild-Caught Animals
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA
Few people realize the magnitude of suffering in the captive fish industry—a $300 million worldwide “hobby” responsible for the annual capture of more than 20 million fish, 12 million corals, and millions of other types of marine life.
At least 95 percent of the gentle saltwater fish sold in pet shops have been cruelly ripped from their natural homes. Trappers douse coral reefs with poison in order to stun the fish for easy capture—half the affected fish die painfully on the reef, and 40 percent of survivors die before they reach an aquarium. The cyanide poison that is routinely used in this cruel practice also kills the reefs themselves as well as countless other animals who live and depend on them. In places where trappers do not use cyanide, such as in the waters of Hawaii, nets are used to capture the animals. Almost 67 percent of animals who are caught with nets die from stress, starvation, or injuries. Many fish suffer barotrauma, which occurs when they are forced to surface too quickly, and some are even subjected to organ puncturing, which is done to relieve the visible effects of barotrauma, and fin clipping, which is done to facilitate shipping.
PETCO sells 439 species of saltwater animals, almost all of whom were stolen from their natural habitats. For each animal displayed for sale on PETCO’s shelves, nine other individual animals were cruelly captured and died before even reaching the store. Please write to PETCO CEO James Myers today and urge him to stop perpetuating this cruel and environmentally devastating industry immediately by ending the sale of wild-caught saltwater animals on the PETCO website and at all of the company’s stores.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please send polite comments to:
James Myers, CEO Petco
jimm@petco.com
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear CEO Myers,
It has come to my attention that you are selling wild-caught saltwater animals, and I am respectfully requesting that you cease this business.
Please allow me to elaborate. At least 95 percent of the gentle saltwater fish sold in pet shops have been cruelly ripped from their natural homes. Trappers douse coral reefs with poison in order to stun the fish for easy capture—half the affected fish die painfully on the reef, and 40 percent of survivors die before they reach an aquarium. The cyanide poison that is routinely used in this cruel practice also kills the reefs themselves as well as countless other animals who live and depend on them. In places where trappers do not use cyanide, such as in the waters of Hawaii, nets are used to capture the animals. Almost 67 percent of animals who are caught with nets die from stress, starvation, or injuries. Many fish suffer barotrauma, which occurs when they are forced to surface too quickly, and some are even subjected to organ puncturing, which is done to relieve the visible effects of barotrauma, and fin clipping, which is done to facilitate shipping.
Furthermore, saltwater beings are complex animals who experience suffering and joy, and who also have the capacity to nurture complex relationships and display grief upon separation. Indeed, despite an almost-universal apathy towards their sensitivity, they do experience pain and react negatively towards stressful situations including loud noises, lights, enclosures, and disturbed environments. Although customers may find them entertaining and “useful” as pets, it is indeed a painful and terrifying experience for them.
Please take this opportunity to express compassion and empathy for our animal friends and decide to help rather than harm them by discontinuing selling wild-caught saltwater animals.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
Read more…
Our Compass 