- Don Lichterman
- Feb 17, 2020
- 11 min read
Welcome to the Animal & Wildlife Welfare, Abuse & Crime Report brought to you by the Sustainable Action Network (SAN)!
Angela 'Felicia' Means Strips Nude at 50 to Reveal What Vegans Look Like
"Friday" star and popular restaurateur Angela Means goes nude at age 50 to show the benefits of vegan living—and it has us exclaiming, "Daaamn!" https://www.peta.org/features/angela-...
Carmen Carrera Wants You to ‘Transform Your Wardrobe’
Model and actor Carmen Carrera is known for fearlessly using her platform to raise awareness about transgender and LGBTQ issues. And now she’s making a bold statement of another sort: Carmen bared all to bring attention to the suffering endured by animals who are caged and killed for their fur and to encourage her followers to “transform” their wardrobes by going fur-free.
2019 U.S. Animal Protection Laws State Rankings
The 2019 U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report has been released. Illinois continues to rein as #1 — with Mississippi bringing up the rear at #50. Find out where your state ranks!
Court Rules Kansas Ag-Gag Law Unconstitutional
Kansas’ Ag-Gag law is the most recent to be struck down as unconstitutional for violating the First Amendment. Enacted in 1990, Kansas’ was the oldest Ag-Gag law in the country. Check out our progress on defeating Ag-Gag laws across the country.
In a triumph for animal welfare, the U.S. Court for the District of Kansas has ruled that the state’s “ag-gag” law violates the First Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional.
Challenged in 2018 by a coalition led by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the law bans undercover investigators from taking photographs or filming animal facilities, such as slaughterhouses and factory farms, ultimately preventing the documentation of animal abuse.
On January 22, the U.S. Court for the District of Kansas rejected the state’s motion to dismiss the case and accepted the majority of the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, thus prohibiting Kansas from implementing the Ag Gag law.
ALDF maintains that the almost 30-year-old legislation prevents undercover activists from investigating inhumane conditions at animal facilities, stifling free speech. This enables unscrupulous companies to hide systemic animal abuse and avoid public scrutiny.
“For 30 years, Kansas lawmakers have suppressed whistleblowers from investigating cruel conditions on factory farms with this unconstitutional law,” explains ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells. “Today’s decision is a victory for the millions of animals raised for meat on factory farms.”
ALDF explained the importance of undercover investigations in both regulatory practice and public informational awareness.
“It is critical that investigations are not suppressed,” the organization said in a statement. “The public relies on undercover investigations to expose illegal and cruel practices on factory farms and slaughterhouses. No Federal laws govern the condition in which farmed animals are raised, and laws addressing slaughter and transport are laxly enforced.”
“Undercover investigations are therefore the primary avenue through which the public receives information about animal agriculture operations,” ALDF continued. “Investigations also reveal health and worker safety violations. Factory farms and slaughterhouses are major polluters, so undercover investigations are important for learning about violations of environmental laws as well.”
This victory in Kansas follows other federal courts in Idaho, Iowa and Utah ruling that those states’ ag-gag laws also violate the U.S. Constitution.
Pursuit Channel CEO Rusty Faulk
A frightened coyote yelping out in pain as she’s shot at point-blank range, unable to escape a foothold trap; her cold, lifeless body thrown carelessly into the back of a pickup truck, as host Robby Gilbert describes the torture as “an artform” and “a heritage built upon hard work, dedication, and pride” in the name of “conservation.” This is Trapping Time, a disturbing television series that subjects innocent animals to cruel trapping practices in the name of entertainment.
Trapping often involves ensnaring animals’ necks with wire, gripping their bodies, and crushing their bones with vice-like jaws. These methods are not immediately lethal, instead causing creatures to suffer excruciating pain until death from conditions like hypothermia, blood loss, and dehydration.
Many animals die trying to break free from traps, chewing or wringing off their trapped limbs and breaking their teeth and bones in the process.
Traps do not discriminate. Millions of animals, including household pets and endangered species, are victimized by traps annually in the United States, where trapping is minimally regulated.
By airing Trapping Time, the Pursuit Channel condones and supports the barbaric and gruesome trapping industry.
Promoting cruelty to animals for “entertainment” is just plain wrong.
New Lawsuit Aims to Stop Yellowstone Grizzly Killings
Our fight to protect Yellowstone-area grizzly bears goes on. The Center for Biological Diversity and allies just launched a lawsuit over the Trump administration's plan to let 72 grizzly bears be killed in the name of livestock grazing in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest. Instead of making sure that measures to reduce grizzly bear conflicts are enforceable, Trump's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has authorized more and more killings of Yellowstone's grizzlies — a unique, highly threatened population. "Wiping out Yellowstone grizzlies to make way for cattle to graze cheaply on our public lands makes no sense," said the Center's Andrea Santarsiere. "These treasured bears deserve better." Watch a news report at KPAX and consider supporting our lawsuit with a donation to our Predator Defense Fund.
On January 30, legislation to permanently prohibit horse slaughter in the United States, as well as the transportation of horses to foreign countries for slaughter, was reintroduced for Congressional consideration by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.
Currently, it is legal to export horses from the United States to be brutally butchered for their meat, which is then consumed overseas. Unscrupulous ‘kill buyers’ often buy innocent horses from auctions and pack them into small trailers with no food or water. If the horses survive the terrifying transport, they’re shot with bolt guns and their throats are slit at the slaughterhouse.
Additionally, horse meat is generally unsafe for human consumption because the animals are often dosed with various noxious chemical substances.
The Safeguard American Food Exports Act (SAFE), introduced by Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), would end this dreadful process.
“The SAFE Act is vital for the health of consumers and wellbeing of horses,” commented Schakowsky. “Horses are ingrained in our national story and deserve far better than being exported in inhumane conditions for slaughter. Many of the substances used to treat horses are banned by the FDA, making horse meat dangerous for human consumption. As a lifelong advocate for consumer protection and animal welfare, I welcome the focus on this legislation.”
Urging government officials to support and pass this bill, Lady Freethinker has garnered over 32,800 signatures to ban ruthless horse slaughtering. Thank you to those who have already signed this petition. If you haven’t, please take the time to help protect America’s horses.
Would you believe that the United States is the largest importer of animal trophies? This horrifying truth is made possible by a well-funded, high-powered group of people with money and influence. They hunt animals for fun and sometimes specifically target imperiled animals for their "rarity." Please support the ProTECT Act and demand a ban on the import of endangered animal trophies! While the ProTECT Act, H.R. 4804, doesn't regulate trophy hunting in other countries, it does take a huge step forward in banning the import of the trophies of endangered or threatened species. We need YOUR help to protect these beautiful animals from being slayed by trophy hunters for fun and bragging rights.
Please call your U.S. representative and ask them to support H.R. 4804, the ProTECT Act. You can simply say, "Please cosponsor the Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies (ProTECT) Act, which will prohibit the import of any trophy of a species listed under the Endangered Species Act into the United States and trophy hunting in the United States of any ESA-listed species."
Judge's Sentencing of Former MLB Player Reflects Outcry from Our Supporters
Public outcry from animal advocates undoubtedly played a role in returning former MLB first-draft player, Shawn Wesley Abner, to prison for the gruesome death of his dog named Eagle. Our letter to the prosecutor in Abner’s case, along with thousands of signatures from In Defense of Animals supporters, was presented to the judge to push for the maximum punishment the law allows.
In July 2019, Shawn Wesley Abner left his Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania residence to visit his girlfriend in the state of Kansas. In August, Abner called a neighbor in his hometown to check on Eagle, who was found nearly mummified and melted into the urine buckled floor of his sweltering dwelling. Abner was subsequently detained in Kansas, extradited to Pennsylvania, and charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
In November, Abner pled guilty to the torturous death of his “best friend” Eagle, who was left to suffer in agony as he slowly dehydrated and starved to death in the brutal summer heat.
Our letter was presented to Common Pleas Judge, Albert H. Masland, by Cumberland County, Pennsylvania District Attorney Skip Ebert. At Abner’s sentencing, Judge Masland referred to the 11,493 signatures attached to our letter, which called for the maximum sentencing of Shawn Wesley Abner, and it made an impact. Judge Masland stated, "What you did is inexplicable, inexcusable and perhaps in some minds unforgivable, but it is not damnable, and it is not deserving of eternal condemnation."
While Judge Masland acknowledged the overwhelming concern of our supporters, he did not accept the defense’s recommendation of 110 days served. Instead, he drew from the minimum sentencing of nine months incarceration recommended by DA Ebert. Abner was sentenced to serve 4 ½ to 23 months incarceration with time served with the possibility of parole. Judge Masland also added a $500 fine and 200 hours of community service, with 60% to be served aiding a humane organization, and 100 hours to serve in south-central Pennsylvania. Abner was also ordered to submit to a mental health evaluation.
We are pleased Judge that Masland recognized the strong feelings of our supporters who sought justice for Eagle; however, we share your disappointment that the maximum penalty for this shocking crime was not delivered. The good news is that prosecutors and judges are listening. We sincerely appreciate your support and participation in responding to our alerts. Together, we are making the world a better place for animals!
Following an extensive investigation, Butler County police have arrested a man accused of deserting a three-year-old dog in a wire cage, leaving the poor animal to slowly die of starvation.
When a postal worker found the skeletal remains of the Cane Corso puppy in an abandoned motel parking lot in Liberty Township, Ohio, he instantly knew the dog had been severely neglected, leading to the innocent creature’s painful and needless death.
“From looking at the animal, you can literally see every bone in [his] body,” lead dog warden Kurt Merbs told WLWT.
Sheriff Richard K Jones says that a tip has now led to the apprehension of Clarence Thomas Jr., who has been charged with abandoning animals and prohibitions concerning companion animals. The accused is being held in the Butler County Jail.
“We posted this case on social media to get the word out that not only were we looking for the subject responsible for this heinous act,” Jones said in a release, “but to let offenders know, you can run, but you cannot hide.”
The arrest follows a Lady Freethinker petition urging authorities to find the suspect. Huge thanks to all of you who have signed — and thank you, law enforcement, for finding this dog’s killer. Now, we must keep speaking out to ensure this case ends in justice. If you haven’t, please sign to ensure the guilty party is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, including a life-long ban on having animals.
Puppy Mills are mass dog-breeding facilities that care about profit more than the animal’s healthcare. Conditions there are horrible. Dogs are forced to live their entire lives in cramped cages that are required to be only 6 inches wider than the dog on each side.
Help me change that law to increase the minimum amount of space required to keep a dog, the number of dogs allowed to be inside of it at a time, and the amount of time that the dogs can be in small cages.
This would largely decrease the profit of puppy mills by increasing the number of cages bought and the amount of land puppy mill owners need to keep dogs in. This simple law also increases the physical and emotional health of dogs in puppy mills. This does not impact people who have dogs as pets, though, because responsible pet owners do not keep dogs in very small cages for such an immense amount of time.The solution is simple. However, if the law is not passed, dogs in mills will continue to suffer and the number of dogs in puppy mills will not decrease. They will be forced to continue living in these horrible conditions. How can we be a civilized society and let this happen to man’s best friend?
My goal is to decrease the number of puppy mills in the US. Please help and sign the petition!
Pigs Left Terrified and Bloody at Despicable Event in Texas
These pigs crash head-first as they desperately try to escape.
You Have to See How These “Trainers” Treat Animals used for Film & TV
Think the animals you see on TV & film are happy? Guess again. On or off set, the animals you see onscreen are at risk. This never-before-seen footage exposes some of the dark secrets lurking behind animals used as props in entertainment industries.
This company has reportedly supplied animals for shows like Briarpatch. Urge USA Network them to commit to never using wild animals in its programs!
Cricket Hollow Zoo Rescue Continues
Court filing seeks whereabouts of nearly 100 animals missing from Cricket Hollow Zoo in Manchester, Iowa — and seeks a contempt order against the zoo’s owners who removed animals before rescue. Learn more about the progress rescuing animals from Cricket Hollow Zoo.
Protect Dogs This Winter
It’s a heart breaking reality. Every year, there are countless cases of animals being found chained up in freezing temperatures. Help protect dogs this winter!
Join Animal Legal Defense Fund staff attorney Kathleen Wood for this webinar as she discusses the annual Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report. Each year, our attorneys compile and review every state and territory’s animal protection laws and rank them according to the relative strength and weakness of their laws. Kathleen will discuss what goes into creating our Compendium and Rankings Report, as well as the highlights from 2019, including most-improved states and legislative trends.
Student Resources and Opportunities Facebook Live
Watch our Facebook Live on Student Resources and Opportunities. We talked about our upcoming week of action and other events, scholarships, and clerkship opportunities.
Animal Law Symposium: Oklahoma City
Join the Animal Legal Defense Fund for our Animal Law Symposium! This day-long symposium will provide attendees with the opportunity to hear from the top voices within the animal law community, including local experts. Register now. Animal Legal Defense Fund is offering travel grants to student chapters to attend the event. Grants are awarded on a first come, first served basis and they will go quickly.
National Justice for Animals Week
Join the Animal Legal Defense Fund for National Justice for Animals Week on February 23 to 29, 2020! This week is an annual event dedicated to raising public awareness about animal abuse, how to report it, and how to work within your community to create stronger laws and ensure tough enforcement. Get involved in this week by tabling during lunch or class breaks, hosting a speaker, or holding a film screening.📷
For the animals,
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The Sustainable Action Network (SAN), A Don Lichterman non-profit organization dedicated to building a global community raising awareness of corruption, injustice and the need for action across a full range of issues impacting people and animal/wildlife welfare around the world, such as conservation, climate change, campaign law, lobbying, government action and rescue work. SAN’s vision is to create safer world, free from political, environmental, and social oppression, where all the inhabitants of Earth can live in harmony within their own natural environments. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
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Purchase gifts that help animals this holiday season! The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s holiday shop is now open – for a limited time. Find past favorites and new designs in options including totes, shirts, hoodies, and even options for dogs!
These items make the perfect holiday gift for friends and family who care about animals. Spread the message of compassion and support the Animal Legal Defense Fund. 100% of the profits go to our work to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.
