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.
Please Urge Hotel Chain to End Fish Rentals
BACKGROUND
PETA continues to receive complaints about Kimpton Hotels’ “Guppy Love” program, in which fish are rented to guests who are “in need of a little extra color, comfort and companionship—but no extra effort ….” PETA reached out to Kimpton Hotels directly, but to no avail. We need your help now!
Being carted from one room to the next in small bowls is a cruel ordeal for these tiny, defenseless animals, who have no opportunity to escape and who are viewed by the company as expendable commodities. Fish are highly social animals who communicate, form bonds, and grieve when family members and companions die. When kept in captivity, they require a sizable amount of water, climate control, filtration, regular cleaning of aquariums, and ample enrichment.
Please join us in urging Kimpton Hotels to do the right thing and stop using fish as props for the fleeting amusement of guests. And please, spread this alert far and wide!
WHOM TO CONTACT
Click HERE for online webform
SAMPLE COMMENT
I was very disappointed to learn that the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group allows guests of its hotels to rent fish. Many visitors are drawn to your four-star boutique hotels because of the company’s progressive, animal-friendly policies that accompany the upscale accommodations. This is not one of those policies, and I hope that you will eliminate this insensitive program.
Regardless of their size or shape, animals are not trinkets or novelties and shouldn’t be shuffled from room to room or stored on a shelf awaiting the next guest. The journal “Fish and Fisheries” recently cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence and concluded that fish are smart animals with sophisticated social structures–they can use tools and have impressive long-term memories. I agree that fish are beautiful, but that does not mean they should be used as decorations. Would you please make your company policies reflect compassion for all animals and stop using fish as decorative props for the fleeting amusement of guests?
Thank you for considering my comments.
Read more…
NBC’s ‘Animal Practice’ Exploits Wild Animals for Cheap Laughs
PETA
BACKGROUND
NBC’s upcoming television series Animal Practice features a number of wild animals, including a capuchin monkey named Crystal as a main character on the show. Monkeys like Crystal who are used for entertainment are taken away from their mothers shortly after birth—a practice that is deeply cruel to both the baby and the mother and that denies the infants the maternal care and nurturing that they need.
The “smile” that Crystal exhibits on the show is actually an expression that indicates fear and stress in capuchin monkeys. Capuchin expert Dr. Eduardo Ottoni states, “In the case of monkeys like Crystal, who lead complex social lives in nature, raising them in captivity means to condemn them to a life of utter loneliness. And since we do not usually understand their communicative behaviors properly, fear, submission, or avoidance displays can easily be mistaken for ‘smiles.'”
Primate sanctuaries tell us that they are “gearing up” for the influx of discarded monkeys that will inevitably result from Crystal’s appearance on the show. When a monkey was featured as a series regular on Friends several years ago, sanctuaries were flooded with “pet” monkeys after the misguided owners realized that they were wholly unprepared to meet these complex animals’ specialized needs.
Please do not watch Animal Practice—and be sure to spread the word about NBC’s cruelty to your friends, family, and coworkers. Take a moment to voice your concern about NBC’s use of Crystal and other wild animals to the chair of the company, Bob Greenblatt.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email: nbcuniversalviewerfeedback@nbcuni.com
SUBJECT
Shame on NBC for Exploiting Wild Animals
SAMPLE MESSAGE
To Whom It Concerns,
I was very disappointed to learn that NBC’s new show Animal Practice features Crystal the monkey and other wild animals. Monkeys used for entertainment are torn away from their mothers as infants, causing severe distress and depriving the animals of essential maternal care. I will not be watching this show. Shame on NBC for using wild animals for a cheap laugh.
NAME
Read more…
Urge Officials to Stop Bull-Torture Festival
PETA
BACKGROUND
Despite worldwide condemnation of the killing of bulls for “entertainment,” the Toro de la Vega continues to take place every September in Tordesillas, Spain. During this “festival,” a lone bull is harassed and chased through the streets and into a field, where men on foot and horseback wield lances. The terrified and confused animal is tortured and repeatedly stabbed until he falls to the ground, crippled and dying. His testicles are often cut off while he is still alive. The person who ultimately kills the bull is awarded a ceremonial spear and a medal by the Tordesillas City Council. Last year, the bull—named Afligido, which is Spanish for “sorrowful”—eventually died after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.
Tradition is no excuse for cruelty. Please write to the regional Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the mayor of Tordesillas, and the Tordesillas Tourism Office and urge officials to bring a permanent end to this cruel and sadistic “celebration.”
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please click and send polite comments to:
Ms. Alicia García Rodríguez
Counselor
Ministry of Culture and Tourism,Castile and León
lophermt@jcyl.es
Tordesillas Mayor Maria Milagros Zarzuelo Capellan and the Tordesillas Tourism Office
http://www.tordesillas.net/webs/inicio.php?cont=1&id=62
Please note that the above link requires all lines to be filled out. The following might assist you:
Nombre: Name
E-mail: E-mail
Asunto del mensaje: Message subject
Texto del mensaje: Message text
Enviar: Send
Consulta enviada correctamente: Check sent successfully
Debe esperar al menos 5 minutos para enviar otro email: You must wait 5 minutes before sending another email
SAMPLE LETTER
To Whom It Concerns,
I am shocked to learn of your annual Toro de la Vega event in which a bull is chased, stabbed, mutilated, and, after enduring prolonged agony and certain terror, is killed. This event is promoted as a cultural tradition, a celebration of your heritage and spirit, but your mitigating words and euphemistic descriptions cannot conceal the inherently barbaric nature of this event. Any celebration built on a foundation of extreme animal cruelty, exploitation, and suffering cannot be justified; condemning bulls, or any other animals, to a torturous ceremony for mere entertainment is indefensible. Commemorating your cultural history is admirable, yet subjecting an innocent creature to such a primitive ritual only demonstrates yours as an uncivilized society.
Animals, as humans, are sentient creatures, capable of emotion, thought, and pain; when you support the exploitation of them, you only promote indifference and establish that you are unsympathetic to suffering. Furthermore, the global community will certainly recognize and scoff at your shameless attempts of justification and will refuse to financially contribute to such an archaic demonstration of savagery . Indeed, until you ceases the Toro de la Vega in favor of a celebration that embraces compassion and respect towards all living beings, I will necessarily maintain the only ethical decision is to promote a boycott of your country and your country’s commerce.
Please choose compassion and empathy and permanently ban the Toro de la Vega and any other rituals that unethically and unnecessarily inflict suffering and pain on animals.
I know your time is limited, and I thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
NAME
Read more…
King Richard’s Faire: 27 years of caged tigers is enough
Big Cat Rescue
(This action alert is now closed. Sadly, animals are still being exploited.)
Background
More than 27 years in a row. That’s how long Bhagavan “Doc” Antle has been carting tigers, lions, ligers and cubs from his South Carolina facility to the King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Massachusetts. More than 27 years!
The King Richard’s Faire opened last weekend (Sept. 1) and runs for EIGHT weekends until the end of October. The big cats will be forced to perform in Antle’s “Tale of the Tiger Big Cat Show” 3 times a day and will be on display in the “Royal Zoo” area the rest of the time.
Isn’t it time to give these majestic cats a break?
Did the management of this Renaissance festival ever bother to look into Antle’s background? We may never know – the General Manager of the festival did not respond to our calls and email. If she had looked into Antle’s history, she easily would have found that he has decades of animal care citations and investigations dating all the way back to 1989!
Antle is also one of the most notorious exploiters of tiger cubs in the country. He operates two facilities in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina that offer cub handling and photos with cubs for a fee. He incessantly breeds tiger cubs in order to use them to make money at these locations. From what we have been told by very upset visitors, cubs as young as 3 weeks old are routinely subjected to being handled by person after person paying to have their photos taken with the cubs for a number of hours each day.
And what happens to these cubs when they are too large and dangerous for people to hold and pet? There is no way to know how many of these tigers end up living miserable lives in conditions compassionate people like you would consider inhumane. Visitors to Antle’s facilities have told us that when they have asked where the tigers end up, they were only given evasive answers. We DO know that some of his cats have been sold or given to other exhibitors with highly questionable backgrounds and numerous USDA violations.
While animal acts are unfortunately still legal in the United States, that does not make them okay. Big cats DO NOT belong in circus acts or shows, should not be bred and used for entertainment, and should not be forced to travel the country simply so exhibitors can make money from them.
Would you once again speak up for the big cats who have no voice? YOU can let the King Richard’s Faire and its major sponsors such as Pepsi and Coors Light know that the time has come to END the exploitation of big cats and their cubs
Whom To Contact
Click HERE for automatic letter
Letter Text
I am very concerned about the exploitation of the tigers and other big cats in your “Tale of the Tiger Big Cat Show” at the King Richard’s Faire for the next 8 weeks.
While animal acts are unfortunately still legal in the United States, that does not make them okay. Society has changed. It is no longer acceptable for fairs and festivals to host “shows” where exotic cats are used as entertainment, forced to perform, and subjected to living and traveling in small cages and semi-trailers. There are so many better ways to entertain and delight your customers — without being at the expense of the cats!
Did you know that the group at your festival has decades of animal care citations and investigations dating all the way back to 1989?
Or that Bhagavan Antle, the head of this group, is considered by many to be one of the most notorious breeders and exploiters of tiger cubs in our country? He operates two facilities in South Carolina that offer cub handling and photos with cubs for a fee. He incessantly breeds tiger cubs in order to use them to make money.
And what happens to these cubs when they are too large and dangerous for people to hold and pet? There is no way to know how many of these tigers end up living miserable lives in conditions compassionate people who care about animals would consider inhumane. Visitors to Antle’s facilities have asked where the tigers end up, but were only given evasive answers. It is known that at least some of his cats have been sold or given to other exhibitors with highly questionable backgrounds and numerous USDA violations.
I am truly saddened that the King Richard’s Faire has allowed Antle to bring his exploitative big cat “show” to the fair for more than 27 years! Big cats DO NOT belong in circus acts or shows, should not be bred and used for entertainment, and should not be forced to travel the country simply so exhibitors can make money from them.
Send Antle and the tigers back home — and STOP being part of the problem in the exploitation of tigers in this country!
Read more…
Ask President Obama to Order the USDA to Confiscate Lame Elephants
PETA is hot on President Obama’s trail, calling on him, as he travels across the country, to direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to start doing its job properly by confiscating elephants used in circuses such as Ringling Bros. who are forced to perform despite lameness, kept in shackles most of their lives, and cruelly trained and mistreated.
In the circus, physical and psychological abuse of animals is an all-day, everyday occurrence. Handlers embed the sharp ends of bullhooks—devices that resemble a fireplace poker with a sharp steel hook at one end—into the soft tissue behind elephants’ ears and knees and under their chins. The USDA has the ability and the responsibility to seize suffering animals, and yet the agency allows them to travel up to 50 weeks a year in cramped and filthy boxcars and trailers, to be kept tightly chained by two legs (and sometimes all four), and to be beaten for even looking sideways at a trainer. We have evidence of all this on videotape. Even lame elephants and those with foot and nail injuries, such as having stones embedded in their pads, are forced to stand with all their weight pressing on their hind legs and perform tricks that are painful and confusing to them.
PETA’s complaints against Ringling Bros.—persistently filed over several years—regarding beatings and the death of elephants, including one particular baby among several who succumbed during training, resulted in the largest fine in circus history. But while fining Ringling Bros. and then the Cole Bros. Circus is a step in the right direction, it is only the smallest of steps and does nothing to stop the horrors that elephants are enduring at this very moment. The USDA must be directed by the president to use its powers of confiscation and remove from abuse the dozens of elephants who are still suffering in circuses. That’s why PETA is appealing directly to the president.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please take a minute of your time to weigh in regarding these suffering elephants and push for them to get the retirement they deserve. Please use THIS FORM to urge President Obama to order the USDA to confiscate all ailing animals from Ringling and other circuses now. Suggested text for a letter to President Obama is below.
SUGGESTED LETTER TEXT
PETA’s complaints against Ringling Bros.—filed over a period of years—regarding beatings and the death of elephants and other animals, including one particular baby elephant among several who succumbed during forced training, resulted in the largest fine of a circus in U.S. history. Further complaints filed by PETA regarding two severely underweight elephants traveling with the Cole Bros. Circus who were deprived of proper veterinary care resulted in a $15,000 penalty. But while fining Ringling Bros. and then Cole Bros. is a step in the right direction, it is only a small step and does nothing to stop the horrors that elephants are enduring right now. The USDA must use its powers of confiscation and remove from abuse every ailing elephant. Please direct the USDA to seize all suffering elephants traveling with abusive circuses immediately. Thank you.
Read more…
Urge U.S. Postal Service to Halt the Use of Vile Glue Traps
UPDATE | OCTOBER 10, 2012
In a stunning show of compassion, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has agreed to halt the use of glue traps in its facilities nationwide! There are more than 35,000 postal facilities in the U.S., so this means that countless mice and other small animals will no longer be subjected to slow, agonizing deaths from starvation, dehydration, and stress.
Thank you to everyone who took time to write to the USPS, and a big thank-you to the USPS for making this decision!
BACKGROUND
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) reportedly uses glue traps for rodent control in its thousands of facilities nationwide!
Glue traps are some of the most hideous products on the market, causing immense and prolonged suffering. Victims often rip themselves to pieces in their frantic struggles to escape the sticky mess. Exhausted and terrified, they succumb to shock, dehydration, asphyxiation, or blood loss—and death can take days! Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Canada warn against using glue traps because of disease risks posed by the many pathogens in the waste of stressed rodents. PETA implored the USPS to consider methods that are less cruel, don’t pose health risks, and are more cost-effective (glue traps aren’t reusable), but USPS officials have not responded. Your voice is needed!
Please urge the USPS to join the countless government agencies that have sworn off glue traps. And please, forward this alert widely!
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please click HERE to write your own or copy/paste the below letter to the USPS
SAMPLE LETTER
To Whom It Concerns,
I have just learned that the USPS uses glue traps, and I am respectfully requesting you cease selling them. In and of itself, killing the mice is inherently immoral, but using glue traps to do so compounds the vicious nature of such an extremely painful and fearfully agonizing experience for animals. These animals are further traumatized trying to free themselves, causing skinning, tearing, ripping, and dismemberment, a profoundly agonizing ritual of attempting to escape for hours upon hours; death sometimes can take days.
This also proves medically dangerous to humans considering that, according to the CDC, glue traps create optimal conditions to spread disease. I would hope any company that shares a core principle of quality of life would be equally concerned with selling any disease-spreading forms of mice control.
It is impossible to contemplate supporting any business that capitalizes on the brutality of animals, and I respectfully request you discontinue using glue traps. Indeed, I hope this letter finds you willing to scrutinize both your own involvement in the intentional exploitation of animals and your desire to therefore protect rather than harm them such as Albertsons, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, and Safeway have done; until such a time, I will boycott you and also share this information with friends, family, and online social contacts. Instead, please consider promoting and selling humane traps to capture and release mice in an ethical and painless manner.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important appeal.
NAME
Read more…
BACKGROUND
A Michelin-starred chef has hit back at environmental campaigners trying to stop the sale of foie gras at his Wanstead restaurant.
The Waltham Forest and Redbridge Green Party is campaigning for Provender bistro, in Wanstead High Street, to take the product off the menu.
Foie gras, which is regarded as a delicacy, is a duck or goose liver product made by force-feeding birds to fatten the liver.
Green Party member Mark Dawes said: “Foie Gras is a cruel product and its sale should be banned.
“I hope people will not buy foie gras from Provender and that the restaurant acts with compassion and stops selling it.”
But chef and patron Max Renzland, who has worked with celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, insists he is concerned about animal welfare.
He said: “You can eat and buy foie gras in any European country because it’s not inherently cruel.
“There are bad foie gras farms like there are bad chicken farms and chicken is eaten by a far bigger proportion of the population.
“A tiny proportion of our customers eat it but it’s about freedom of choice.”
Provender sells an estimated 10 to 15 livers a week.
Mr Renzland has been in the restaurant trade for 35 years and said he has visited many foie gras farms.
He added: “The foie gras we use is done mainly in very small farms and yes, there’s a funnel used, but in very small quantities.
“I’m sure you can find plenty of YouTube clips on the internet but I don’t think you can criticise something you’ve never seen.”
The Waltham Forest and Redbridge Green Party previously campaigned against the sale of foie gras in Belgique patisserie in Cambridge Park, Wanstead.
Mr Dawes is also involved in campaigns against sellers including Fortnum and Mason.
He said: “The aim of our campaign is to raise awareness of the cruelty of foie gras and that Provender is selling the product in the hope that if customers do not order it, it will be taken off the menu and help stop animal suffering.”
Production is banned in the UK but there are no rules against selling imported foie gras.
SAMPLE LETTER
To Whom It Concerns,
I am disturbed to learn that your establishment is still selling foie gras, the production of which inflicts incredible suffering and cruelty upon sentient animals. As such, I respectfully request you take immediate steps to eliminate foie gras from your product list.
Foie gras, French for “fatty liver,” is made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of male ducks and geese. The birds are kept in tiny wire cages or packed into sheds. Pipes are repeatedly shoved down the birds’ throats, and up to 4 pounds of grain and fat are pumped into their stomachs two or three times every day. The pipes puncture many birds’ throats, sometimes causing the animals to bleed to death. This cruel procedure causes the birds’ livers to become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size. Many birds become too sick to stand up. The birds who survive the force-feeding are killed, and their livers are sold for foie gras.
Globally, people have spoken out against the cruelty of foie gras. In 2004, as you know, California passed a law banning the sale and production of foie gras, effective this year; his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI denounced foie gras, the force-feeding as being in violation of Biblical principles; and foie gras production has been outlawed in the U.K., Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Israel.
As such, I respectfully request you please reconsider and make the compassionate and ethical decision to ban foie gras. You may be interested to know in addition to those people and places indicated above, many regional chefs and colleagues have recently removed foie gras from their menus, and I would love to inform my friends and acquaintances that you have joined them by also rejecting this torture and eliminating foie gras. Until such a time, however, I maintain the only ethical decision is to promote a boycott of your establishment and visiting instead the ones that do not sell foie gras.
I look forward to a positive response, however, so that I may visit you again.
Please feel free to watch the following video illustrating in disturbing detail the inherent cruelty of foie gras production:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAzrSl0ztsQ&feature=youtu.be
Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.
NAME
Read more…
Urge USDA to Pull License of Cruel Roadside Zoo
PETA
BACKGROUND
Following a lawsuit brought by two local citizens—with the support of PETA and the Animal Legal Defense Fund—Jambbas Ranch, a squalid roadside zoo in North Carolina, has been found to be in violation of state cruelty-to-animals laws. The court found that Jambbas’ treatment of Ben, a bear Jambbas kept confined to a tiny, barren pen made of concrete and chain-link fencing, caused him to suffer in violation of North Carolina law. The court also noted that Jambbas even failed to meet Ben’s most basic veterinary, dietary, and environmental needs.
Fortunately, Ben has been given a chance at a new life at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California, where he is thriving in a vast natural habitat—one that is measured in acres, not feet and inches. He can now splash in his very own pool, rub his back on trees, and sleep soundly in a large straw nest or under oak trees.
But hundreds of animals are still languishing at Jambbas. In fact, inspectors routinely find animals in dire need of veterinary care at Jambbas—and sometimes even dead animals. And despite the cruel conditions that caused Ben to suffer in violation of state law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to renew Jambbas’ Animal Welfare Act (AWA) license year after year. Enough is enough. The USDA must take action. Now that Jambbas has been found to be in violation of cruelty laws, the USDA has no excuse. The AWA gives the agency clear authority to revoke a license when there are violations of cruelty laws, and it must act on that authority immediately.
Please take a moment now to join PETA in politely urging USDA officials to revoke Jambbas’ license immediately, before even more animals suffer.
PETITION
Please click HERE to sign automatic letter
WHOM TO CONTACT
USDA/APHIS/AC
4700 River Road, Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
E-mail: ace@aphis.usda.gov
Phone: 301-851-3751
Fax: 301-734-4978
Click HERE to send a free fax from your computer. You do not need a fax machine, credit card, nor do you need to register. The faxes are sent through your computer. Please make certain to confirm your fax via your email or else the fax will not succeed.
SUBJECT
Please Revoke Jambbas Ranch’s AWA License
SAMPLE LETTER
To Whom It Concerns,
I am writing to urge you to revoke the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) license of Jambbas Ranch, a squalid roadside zoo where USDA inspectors have repeatedly found sick animals in dire need of veterinary care–and even dead animals. Jambbas’ chronic violations of the AWA alone disqualify it from possessing an AWA license, and now Jambbas has been found to be in violation of North Carolina cruelty-to-animals laws for its cruel treatment of a suffering bear. This gives the USDA the clear authority to revoke Jambbas’ license, and it is crucial that you exercise that authority before even more animals suffer and die. Can I please hear back from you soon that you are revoking Jambbas’ AWA license?
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent message.
NAME
Read more…
Help Stop Canada’s Military From Poisoning Pigs
PETA
Please click HERE to sign automatic letter
Background | Source PETA
Each year, members of the Canadian military travel to Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) in Suffield, Alberta, to participate in a cruel “live agent training” drill in which live pigs are exposed to toxic chemical weapons such as sarin and mustard agents. Pigs subjected to this crude exercise suffer from seizures, irregular heartbeats, difficulty breathing, and bleeding and can even die.
Instead of tormenting animals, other military and civilian training programs around the world now use modern non-animal methods such as lifelike human patient simulators, which—unlike crude procedures on pigs—can be programmed to mimic the human response to a chemical-weapon attack.
In 2011, following a PETA campaign, the U.S. Army replaced the use of animals in its chemical warfare training program, stating that its switch to superior human simulators “was made possible by improved technology, the development of alternative training methods, shifting chemical threat environments, and changes in the medical competencies required of first responders during a chemical incident.” Similarly, doctors working with the Israel Defense Forces have developed an effective chemical attack preparedness course that uses only sophisticated human simulators, noting that, “An animal laboratory session is viewed as unacceptable.”
Because valid simulators exist and are being used worldwide, DRDC’s poisoning of pigs—in addition to being extremely cruel and ineffective—clearly violates Canadian animal welfare guidelines that require that alternatives to the use of animals be used when available.
Please help spare pigs from this archaic and cruel chemical-casualty training right now by sending polite e-mails to Canadian military officials urging them to take immediate action to replace the use of animals with superior non-animal training methods.
Read more…
‘Rescued’ big cats now in zoos? Free Diego, Albert, and Guacho!
3dayz
Please click HERE to sign and send automatic message
Background | Source 3dayz
The Mexican Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) recently seized 3 abused and neglected big cats – Diego, Albert and Guacho – from their so-called caretakers. Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, USA has agreed to provide a safe haven for these cats and to cover all costs of transportation, but Mexican authorities have been reluctant to cooperate.
The Mexican Wildlife Act does not prohibit the purchase of cats if applicants meet certain requirements. However, in most cases the cats are seized by PROFEPA showing that wild animals should not be held as companion animals.
In the mean time lion Diego lives in Zacango Zoo, tiger Albert lives in Guadalajara Zoo and lion Gaucho lives in Papagayo Park (which is a zoo as well). Unfortunately zoos exist for the entertainment of people and not for the well-being of animals, who are caged and exploited for profit. Wild Animal Sanctuary on the other hand is a non-profit rescue center dedicated exclusively to rescuing captive exotic and endangered large carnivores. The center has 720 acres of rolling grasslands where the animals can develop their natural abilities.
Please contact PROFEPA and SEMARNAT (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) and ask them to grant permission for these cats to be relocated to Wild Animal Sanctuary and to revise the Wildlife Act so that animals such as big cats can no longer be held as companion animals! Simply fill in the form on the right and click ‘Send’. You can also edit the letter to your liking – personal letters carry much more weight and prove more effective than form letters.
Message Text
Dear representative,
Recently 3 big cats – Diego, Albert and Guacho – were seized by PROFEPA after receiving complaints of negligence, abuse, and the inability to provide them with the space required. To date, these animals live on sites that cannot provide in the basic needs for the cats.
Wild Animal Sanctuary (WAS) is a sanctuary located in Colorado, USA, and specializes in the rescue, relocation, and care of wild animals. In its history, it has housed animals seized in Mexico, Panama and Bolivia, and the United States. WAS has offered to provide a safe haven for Diego, Albert, and Guacho, providing living conditions that allow them to develop their natural abilities, providing a balanced diet and necessary veterinary care.
I would like to ask you to issue the necessary permits so that these 3 cats are moved to the United States and relocated to the Wild Animal Sanctuary without further delay.
I also urge you to revise the Wildlife Act, which applies to all of Mexico, so to offer complete and solid protection to big cats and other wild and exotic animals not to be kept as companion animals.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this important appeal.
Read more…
Urge Without Walls International Church to STOP Elephant Rides
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND
In advance of the Republican National Convention, Without Walls International Church is offering elephant rides on its property throughout this weekend. We need your help to ensure that this cruel event is stopped immediately!
Elephants who are used for spectacles like this are barbarically trained behind the scenes so that they are under the constant threat of punishment and remain submissive in public. In video footage, trainers from one animal exhibitor can be seen forcing elephants to perform by shocking them with electric prods in the belly and genital area and striking them with bullhooks—sharp, metal-tipped weapons that resemble fireplace pokers and can leave painful welts, abscesses, and puncture wounds on elephants’ sensitive skin. In the video footage, a baby elephant cries out in pain each time he is hit on the head and jabbed in his sensitive mouth with a bullhook. This is standard industry practice for exhibitors who supply the elephants who are used for these types of promotional events.
The behind-the-scenes beatings continue throughout the elephants’ lives and leave the animals fearful and intimidated, allowing handlers to maintain control over them. Handlers are never without their bullhooks—tools that the elephants associate with pain and that remind them what will happen if they behave in a way the handler doesn’t like.
Please take a moment to write to Bishop Randy White at the Without Walls International Church and urge him to stop the elephant appearance.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please click HERE for online webform
SUBJECT
Please Cancel Elephant Appearance Now
SAMPLE MESSAGE
I am writing to urge you not to support cruelty to animals by having an elephant appear at your church this weekend. Elephants provided by exhibitors for entertainment are beaten behind the scenes with sharp, metal-tipped weapons called “bullhooks” in order to keep the animals fearful in public. Elephants are sensitive, intelligent creatures who are not meant to entertain us.
Animals in this industry endure a lifetime of misery and are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them. Besides the blatant cruelty-to-animals issue, the use of elephants for entertainment events also poses serious threats to human safety. Dangerous incidents involving captive elephants have resulted in 15 human deaths and more than 135 injuries to humans since 1990. If elephants feel threatened by loud noises, sudden movements, or unfamiliar settings, there’s no stopping them when they go on a rampage.
Please cancel the elephant rides immediately.
Read more…
Minnesota Wolves Still in Danger
BACKGROUND
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is allowing bowhunters and trappers to kill up to 400 gray wolves across the state. Gray wolves lost federal protections under the Endangered Species Act earlier this year, so the fate of these animals now lies in the state’s hands. Wolves in Minnesota need your voice today!
Bowhunting is among the cruelest forms of hunting. Bowhunters often spend hours following bloody tracks before finding wounded animals. Many animals are not found, and their deaths are slow and painful. It can take weeks for them to succumb to their injuries. Trapping is just as horrific. Snares and steel-jaw traps (even rubber-coated ones) cause immense distress and pain. Terrified, animals often injure themselves in their frantic struggles to escape (many even chew off their own limbs). Animals caught by their necks can slowly suffocate. These traps also pose a definitive risk to nontarget wildlife. Regardless of the killing method used, families are then torn apart, and young and weak animals starve or die of dehydration.
Please politely contact Minnesota officials and urge them to halt plans to bowhunt and trap and kill wolves—and then forward this message widely! If you are a Minnesota resident, please consider contacting your legislators. Let them know that you oppose the killing of wolves in Minnesota!
WHOM TO CONTACT
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040
(651) 296-6157
(888) 646-6367
info.dnr@state.mn.us
TTY: (651) 296-5484
TTY: (800) 657-3929
PETITION
Please click and sign HERE
SUBJECT
Please Do Away With Bowhunting and Trapping of Wolves
SAMPLE MESSAGE
Dear Officials,
I was shocked to learn that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plans to allow bowhunters and trappers to kill recently delisted wolves. Bowhunting is among the cruelest forms of hunting. Bowhunters often spend hours following bloody tracks before finding wounded animals. Many animals are not found, and their deaths are slow and painful. It can take weeks for them to succumb to their injuries.
Trapping is just as horrific. Snares and steel-jaw traps (even rubber-coated ones) cause immense distress and pain. Terrified, animals often injure themselves in their frantic struggles to escape (many even chew off their own limbs). Animals caught by their necks can slowly suffocate. These traps also pose a definitive risk to nontarget wildlife. Regardless of the killing method used, families are then torn apart, and young and weak animals starve or die of dehydration.
Please halt all cruel bowhunting and trapping of wolves and explore control methods that are humane and effective.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
BACKGROUND
In 2000, Congress agreed with the animal protection community that the public has a right to know how the airlines treat their animal passengers. In 2003, the Department of Transportation (DoT) finally issued regulations governing the reports that airlines have to file regarding animals who are lost, injured, or killed while in their care. Unfortunately, they only have to report a problem if it involves an animal who “is being kept as a pet in a family household in the United States.” That is a very narrow definition and does not include animals being shipped commercially “such as dogs coming from puppy mills and primates being shipped to research laboratories.
After years of protests about this limitation from animal groups and letters from U.S. Senators, DoT has published a proposal (Docket No. DOT-OST-2010-0211) to expand the reporting requirements and the number of airlines to which they apply, and to improve the utility of the reports.
It is essential that DoT hear from animal advocates like you so that the final rule will cover all animals who are entrusted to the
airlines.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please click HERE to leave comments. The only required field is the comment area, all others are optional.
SAMPLE COMMENTS
Please amend the proposed rule so that airlines are required to file reports for any animal who is lost, injured, or killed while in their care and custody. The animal’s status as “pet,” “commercial shipment,” or otherwise has no bearing on an air carrier’s responsibility to ensure that an animal is handled humanely and arrives alive and well at the final destination. While the rule as proposed is an improvement over the current coverage “limited only to pets residing in U.S. households ” it still fails to cover such egregious situations as, for example, the deaths of 15 monkeys during an arduous journey from Miami to Los Angeles to China and back again. I support DoT’s suggestion that the airlines’ December reports include the total number of animals transported in the previous year as well as a tally for the year of all animal losses, injuries, and deaths. This more-comprehensive year-end report will make the information that much more meaningful and accessible to consumers. I also support applying the reporting requirement to more airlines, as proposed. The public deserves the best information it can get regarding the airlines’ records when it comes to handling animals. Making the airlines more accountable will make them more careful with their animal passengers.
Read more…
BACKGROUND | SOURCE: FORCE CHANGE
Target: The Food and Drug Administration for Tobacco Products
Goal: Reconsider requiring tobacco companies to test their new “light” or “mild” cigarette formula on animals.
Imagine being locked in a cramped cell for several months as cigarette smoke is pumped directly through your nostrils for hours at a time. Sadly, PETA claims that this is the fate of the tobacco industry’s lab rats before they’re killed and dissected in the name of a bad human habit. And now, the industry has plans to test its new “light” or “mild” formula, which they’re pushing to claim is less harmful for the 47 million adults in the United States who light up. According to the Food and Drug Administration draft guidelines, animal lives must be put in danger through cruel animal testing in order for the tobacco industry to bring its “light” cigarettes to the market. Tell the FDA that defenseless animals must not be sacrificed for still-harmful tobacco products.
According to PETA, testing tobacco products on animals does not make them safe for human consumption because humans and animals often do not develop the same types of diseases from tobacco smoke. In addition, these results are often used by the industry to deny links between smoking and deadly diseases, like cancer.
In a Washington Times report published on Monday, May 28, tobacco products are responsible for the deaths of 1,200 people per day in this country alone. And if you’re thinking “light” automatically means “better”, you’re in for a big surprise.
The National Cancer Institute claimed in a recent report that “[T]here is no convincing evidence that changes in cigarette design … have resulted in an important decrease in the disease burden caused by cigarette use.”
Animal testing can often be dangerous and cruel. In this case, it can also be ineffective. Though several other countries including the United Kingdom and Canada do not test on animals, the FDA and tobacco industry are allowing animals to senselessly suffer and die for products humans know are bad for us. By signing the petition below, you will tell the FDA that the public will not stand for these guidelines.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Email: AskCTP@fda.hhs.gov
Click on and sign petition HERE
SUBJECT
Don’t Allow the Tobacco Industry to Test New “Light” Formula on Animals
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Food and Drug Administration for Tobacco Products,
Requiring the tobacco industry to inhumanely test products on defenseless animals is senseless and wrong. These animals are often locked away and subjected to brutal treatment, disease, and death.
All animals deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. The National Cancer Institute recently reported that there is “no convincing evidence” that “light” tobacco products will leave human users any better off. In addition, humans and animals do not suffer from the same diseases from tobacco products, so even if these products are deemed safer when tested on animals, the results may be different when they are released to the public.
It is imperative that you reconsider your draft guidelines to ensure that both animals and humans are kept safe. Please commit to taking action immediately.
Sincerely,
NAME
Read more…
Tell Groupon to End Deals for Cruel Circuses
BACKGROUND
Despite receiving information from PETA about the circus industry’s long history of public deception and animal abuse, Groupon continues to offer deals for cruel circuses across the country.
As you can see in this new video narrated by Alec Baldwin, undercover video footage shows that elephants who are forced to perform in the circus are confined, whipped, and beaten for each show. It takes just one look at the pictures provided to PETA by a former Ringling elephant trainer to see the terror in the baby elephants’ eyes as they are surrounded by screaming handlers, who slam them to the ground, beat them, and break their spirits so that they will perform meaningless tricks under the big top. Unfortunately, even after learning about this history of abuse, Groupon continues to promote animal-based circuses through deals on its website.
Countless other businesses have agreed not to support circuses that use animals. After being flooded with complaints from concerned customers, Denny’s, Lukoil, MasterCard, Visa, and Sears terminated their Ringling sponsorships or promotions. In addition, Whole Foods, Ford Motor Co., and General Mills ended their sponsorships of animal-based circuses after learning about these issues from PETA.
Don’t buy Groupon deals, and let the company know why! Please contact Groupon and urge the company to stop promoting cruel circuses.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Andrew Mason & Julie Mossler
Webform: https://www.groupon.com/support
Or send an email to: support@groupon.com
OPTION
Other – I have an issue that’s not listed
SAMPLE MESSAGE
Dear Mr. Mason and Ms. Mossler,
I was shocked to learn that Groupon, despite knowing about the circus industry’s long history of animal abuse and public deception, continues to support cruelty to animals by offering circus deals.
Circuses engage in many of the worst practices. Elephants are beaten with bullhooks and shocked with electric prods, and handlers rip still-nursing baby elephants away from their protective mothers, chain them for up to 23 hours per day, beat them, and shock them with electric prods in order to force them to perform tricks that are confusing and unnatural to them.
Whole Foods, Ford Motor Co., and General Mills have all ended sponsorships of animal-based circuses after hearing about this abuse.
Please stop supporting cruelty to animals and make the compassionate decision to no longer offer deals for animal-based circuses. Until you have done so, I won’t purchase deals from Groupon and will urge all my friends and family to do the same.
Thank you for taking the time to read this urgent appeal.
NAME
Read more…
Our Compass 