On The Rampage w/ Don Lichterman talks "Bam Bam", "Build Wall", Whistleblower, Iran, Dog Fighting, Emissions Roll Back for California, Yummy...Cat Meat!, ALDF, Seal Heads, Wildlife Services & Dillan are on the Animal & Wildlife Report! Squash Fritters With Jalapeño Cream & a Tequila Sunrise is the Recipe of the Week!, 11 Songs Licensed & Sunset Music Supervision copyrights have 26,994 in-store plays this year!
Dillan the Bear Is Trapped and Running out of Time at This Roadside Zoo in Pennsylvania
Dillan the bear is in bad shape & is running out of time. Union County Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania has let him get 400 pounds overweight and he’s clearly showing signs of psychological distress. He just sways back and forth in his concrete prison all day.
The club has NO business holding wild animals captive and needs to release him to a reputable sanctuary IMMEDIATELY before it’s too late. https://support.peta.org/page/12091/a...
Stop the FWC from killing a mother bear who was protecting her cubs.
A woman in Longwood, FL, let her dog outside off-leash at night. The dog spotted a mother bear with cubs and started barking at the bears. The woman tried to run back to her house, which caused the bear to chase after her. She tripped and fell and hit her head. The bear bit her ankle.
The mother bear perceived the dog and woman as a threat and as a warning bit the woman and retreated. This incident could have been prevented had the Longwood community been properly storing their trash the main culprit in almost all bear-human conflicts. Also, dogs should be leashed, and if you live in bear country you must canvass the area before taking your dog out and never run from a bear.
We need to hold the FWC accountable for enforcing the standards and laws put into place to protect both humans and bears. In cases where bear attacks occur due to human negligence. A new policy must be implemented that holds humans accountable for their actions. A bear should not be killed for defending her cubs.
Contact the FWC Commissioners and ask that a policy change be made that protects bears from being killed as a result of human error or carelessness. https://myfwc.com/con…/fwc-staff/senior-staff/commissioners/ https://www.beardefenders.org/
At the time of his rescue, Justice was suffering from starvation, frostbite, rain rot, lice, and he was 300 pounds underweight.
Due to his abuser’s actions, Justice will require ongoing, expensive medical care for the rest of his life — and we believe that his abuser should pay for that care.
Now the Animal Legal Defense Fund is helping Justice sue his abuser — and if we win, we’ll establish a legal precedent that animals have the legal right to sue their abusers in court — and transform the way animals are treated by our legal system.
That’s because in many circumstances, our legal system treats animals like Justice as mere property. This treatment can deprive animals of meaningful legal protections that they need and the right to enforce whatever protections they have in court.
But animals are living, feeling beings — and our Not Property Movement aims to rally support for our legal system to recognize that animals have basic rights.
Our Not Property campaign has the potential to improve the lives of animals — strengthening legal protections for animals, and unlocking more pathways to justice for unlawfully abused, neglected, and exploited animals.
But it won’t be easy. Distinguishing animals from mere property under the law will require time, resources, and expertise — and the support of people like you who believe that animals deserve better.
A Virginia couple neglected 32 Great Danes so severely that some were on the brink of death. Five of these dogs were found shut in a run-down camper, covered in feces and urine with no water or food. There was no ventilation in the vehicle, and the temperatures were soaring.
Some of the dogs seized were so painfully thin they were rated -1 and 1 on a body condition scale from 1-5. Almost all were malnourished and loaded with intestinal parasites.
The living conditions were so filthy, the state health department had to intervene.
The King and Queen County Sheriff’s Department arrested Richard Awlasewicz and Candice Wheat and charged them with felony animal cruelty. The pair also face misdemeanor charges for having no county licenses and not vaccinating the dogs for rabies.
The 12 puppies and 20 adult dogs are now in the care of a local shelter; however, Awlasewicz and Wheat claimed that two of the animals are service dogs, and requested their return.
These people are guilty of horrific neglect, and a judge mustn’t allow them to ever have animals ever again.
At first, Niamh Fox only saw one beheaded seal as she ran along Narin Beach in County Donegal, Ireland. That, of course, was bad enough. But as she continued running, a second appeared before her, and then a third. She quickly alerted the on-duty beach lifeguard, who was similarly shocked and dismayed.
Niamh told an Irish news site she "suspects that something sinister happened to the creatures." From what she saw, it looked like the decapitation must be the result of human cruelty ”it was too specific, intentional, and senseless. No other animal would have reason to do something like that to a fellow creature.
Unfortunately, the seals are no longer on the beach, which will make examining the evidence difficult, as their bodies were allowed to remain there so long that they eventually washed out to sea. The fact that authorities didn't immediately collect and inspect their remains is already a warning sign, showing they don't take this case seriously.
So it's up to us to make them pay attention.
Sign the petition now to demand that the police in County Donegal, Ireland immediately search for the animal abusers to murdered and ripped the heads off of three innocent seals, then left them to rot!
Wildlife Services envisions a gruesome, cruel future for wildlife in Colorado. It includes strangling neck snares, painful foot-hold traps, and aerial gunning, all part of a sick plan to kill the state's native wildlife.
Taking out mountain lions, black bears, bobcats and other animals would wreak havoc on Colorado's ecosystems. These animals play a critical role in ensuring Colorado's wild places remain healthy and balanced.
We're in court to stop this senseless slaughter — another of our many battles against the shadowy, cruel Wildlife Services program.
Reckless oil and gas drilling has torn apart the habitat of mule deer in the state, decimating their population. But instead of restoring Colorado habitat, Wildlife Services is blaming cougars and bears for the mule deer losses — and preparing to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to kill these native predators.
We've taken Wildlife Services to court for failing to consider the disastrous consequences of this plan. Instead of following science and the law, it adopted a "kill first, answer questions later" attitude.
We know how to win against Wildlife Services. In Wyoming we recently secured a ban on the program’s use of deadly M-44 cyanide traps across more than 10 million acres of public land.
In Oregon we helped secure a ban on the program's targeting of beavers, minks, muskrats and otters. I
n Northern California we secured a ban on traps and aerial gunning in designated wilderness areas in 16 counties.
Now we've got our sights on what's happening in Colorado.
These are fights we can win, but our battles against Wildlife Services are often long and costly.
The protection and conservation of our wolves will always be a top priority for Pacific Wild.
Currently, the B.C. government kills nearly 200 wolves per year (on average) by aerial gunning from helicopters, trapping (including the use of neck snares), and collaring “Judas” wolves. A “Judas” wolf is a cruel practice where an individual animal is collared to betray the location of other pack members. He is then kept alive for repeated persecution year-after-year so government aerial snipers can follow it to its family.
Over 700 wolves have been killed in the last few years under the B.C. government’s wolf cull.
The province has no intention of stopping and are on track to kill upwards of 1,000 wolves by 2020.
A recently-leaked internal document dated August 22nd, 2019, has revealed the B.C. government's intentions to expand the wolf cull program, targeting 80% of wolf populations in some areas.
This is a biologically and ethically indefensible wildlife crisis.
The B.C. government states that it is necessary to kill wolves in order to save endangered southern mountain caribou. However, the government's own data shows that habitat loss is the greatest threat to caribou, not wolves.
Help us rescue James & Thom from a horrible bile bear farm in Vietnam.
With your help, they could soon start over in our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh.
Chickens Saved After Fiery Truck Crash on September 12, 2019. Briefly famous after his refusal to hand out Carl’s Jr. coupons and subsequent firing and successful lawsuit, vegan bus driver, Bruce Anderson, was driving to work through San Pablo, California early last Thursday when he saw a horrific sight he’ll never forget. He frantically texted a message, “A chicken truck overturned on the freeway by San Pablo Dam Road. Chickens are on fire running all over the place. All lanes are closed.”
Our very own Anita Carswell and her partner, Brendan Montgomerie, live close by and rushed out to the scene. It was difficult and time consuming to get close to the scene of the accident because of the closure and ensuing traffic, and en route, requests for assistance were made. Once there, only a small scattering of chickens of the 1,000 or so who had been burned, crushed, or not among the few dozens recaptured by Animal Control were still loose.
During the commotion, Anita and Brendan managed to rescue two chickens. Eva Hamer from DxE had responded to the call to help, and managed to rescue one chicken as well. The rescued three chickens are now living out the rest of their long natural life spans at animal sanctuaries. They were incredibly lucky and a statistical anomaly.
Sadly, all the chickens recovered by Animal Control were unlucky enough to be returned to their “owners” for their intended bloody slaughter for meat, and were picked up the same day.
A reporter on the scene confirmed the birds are from Pitman Family Farms, a chicken supplier to Amazon. DxE has previously investigated Pitman Family Farms, revealing grisly scenes of sick and starving chickens inside filthy industrial sheds at so-called “free-range” farms.
You can learn the full details in our media release which was reported on by local news outlets.
If you’ve found yourself cheering for the survivors, but feeling sick at the thought of burning chickens, crushed chickens, or surviving chickens being put on yet another truck and sent to their bloody deaths, please decide today to stop supporting chicken suffering. There’s absolutely no need to do so. We can help.
Yummy...Cat Meat!
Just like dogs, the cats of China face horrors beyond imagine as they're kidnapped, beaten and cooked alive in the brutal meat trade, or brutalized in the streets without a single law to protect them from abuse.
They are terrified, sick and desperate for help.
Lady Freethinker is aiding organizations saving cats and other animals from suffering in China and giving them the food, medical care and love they so desperately need.
The sweet kitty you see above was rescued by local group Ping An A Fu, which Lady Freethinker supports. The poor baby was battered and ailing, and needed eye removal surgery. This cat was lucky to get much-needed care, but so many others rescued from China's streets and slaughterhouses still need our help.
That's why, along with working toward stronger animal protections, Lady Freethinker is supporting those on the ground saving animals' lives.
Animal abuse for wildlife tourism is happening right now, on our doorstep! #RuthlessTourism Across Europe, hundreds of wild animals are being held captive in horrible conditions and subjected to mental and physical abuse for our entertainment. This is their true story. Break the chains of abuse and sign our pledge: https://help.four-paws.org/en/ruthles...
Across Europe, hundreds of wild animals are being held captive in horrible conditions for our entertainment. Tiger Noa is one of them. Tourists can 'rent' Noa for an hour during which they can walk her on a leash, pet her and take selfies. Born in captivity, she will never know anything more than the small cage where she lives alone or the playground the size of two football pitches where she entertains visitors. Noa deserves better. It is unacceptable that in the 21st century it is legal in Europe to abuse wild animals for entertainment. Spread the word and help us expose these cruel practices! Follow the link to sign our pledge and for more info https://www.four-paws.org/ruthless-to...
Molly was a friendly and affectionate dog whose owners left her tied up outdoors next to piles of junk month after month. PETA's fieldworkers gave her a doghouse and did their best to provide her with affection, veterinary care, and fresh food and water on a regular basis—but because her owners refused to give her up, there was only so much that the fieldworkers could do to help her. And one hot summer day, they arrived to find that she had died—still chained and lying in a hole that she'd dug in a futile attempt to keep herself cool. She was only 2 years old.
It's nearly inconceivable that anyone would take a lengthy trip leaving their dog unattended at home, but that's exactly what an ex-pro baseball player did. He then asked his neighbor's stepson to clear up the remains, including maggots and bodily fluids, and to not get him into trouble. The husky, named Eagle, was skin and bone and appeared to have melted into the floor while laying as if waiting for Abner to return.
We cannot bring Eagle back or undo his suffering, but we can ensure his negligent guardian is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Act now to get justice for Eagle.
Take Action on Puppy Mill Awareness Day, September 21!
Animal advocates gathered recently at The Puppy Mill Summit in Kissimmee, Florida eager to learn effective ways to stop puppy mills and make change in their communities. Tune in and get inspired to take action in your city.
Join us in taking a stand against pet stores and puppy mills on Puppy Mill Awareness Day on Saturday, September 21!
This national event was created to call attention to the truth behind the disgusting puppy mill industry and to encourage the public to adopt—not shop.
An estimated 10,000 puppy mills across the United States breed, imprison, and sell suffering animals for profit. Puppy mills produce over two million puppies each year while millions of homeless dogs needlessly languish and die in shelters across the country.
The dogs need your help! That’s why we are urging everyone to participate in this very special day by coordinating or joining a peaceful event in your community. You can help by:
Handing out leaflets in a busy area Holding signs outside of stores that sell puppies Creating a library display Holding a party fundraiser. If you do not live near a pet store that sells puppies but would like to take action on September 21, you could host a puppy mill party to raise awareness and donations for IDA’s puppy mill campaign. Get politically active! More than 200 communities across the country have banned the retail sale of dogs and cats. Help to add your town to that growing list by getting involved!
Cruelty can’t stand the spotlight. Please join us along with compassionate people around the country on Puppy Mill Awareness Day to help bring an end to pet stores and puppy mills!
We can assist you and provide suggestions and materials for your event. Please email our Puppy Mill Campaign Director to get started!
Last, please join us for our next webinar – Using Local Legislation to Protect Animals: Retail Pet Sale Bans on October 2nd at 12pm PT/3pm ET!
Take the next step in your animal advocacy and learn the skills you need to pass laws protecting animals at the local level! This webinar focuses on retail pet sale bans – laws that prohibit pet stores from selling puppies and kittens (and sometimes other animals like rabbits) who are commercially bred. Retail pet sale bans are a powerful way to fight back against puppy mills, and you could pass one in your own community.
REGISTER NOW. Animal Legal Defense Fund Campaigns Manager Elizabeth Holtz will walk you through the steps to pass a ban in your city as well as share tips that can be applied to any local legislative campaign.
Did you know that there are over 10,000 legal and illegal dog breeding facilities in the United States? Each year, nearly 200,000 dogs and their babies are used and sold like commodities while millions of adoptable shelter dogs are euthanized.
These facts might be hard to face, but we have a very important message for you:
In Defense of Animals is an animal rights organization dedicated to rescuing as many lives as possible and has just launched a new life-saving campaign—Puppy Mills! Puppy Mill Campaign Director, Carla Wilson has designed the campaign to focus on legislative efforts. Carla is an expert when it comes to making positive and impactful changes for dogs and their guardians.
IDA's End Puppy Mill Campaign will be used as a platform to educate individuals and communities around the United States about the horrors of the puppy mill and pet store industries. Carla's main objectives are to promote the life-saving idea of "Adopt, Don't Shop" and work on legislative initiatives to secure large wins for dogs!
Carla is working diligently with our supporters to add their communities to the growing list of cities that have banned the retail sale of dogs and cats. She is currently working on Puppy Mill Awareness Day, September 21st. Whether it's a Rally 4 Pups held outside stores selling puppies, letters to the editor, or other forms of outreach, the goal of Puppy Mill Awareness Day is to educate the masses and encourage them to adopt from local shelters instead of buying sick and sad puppies from pet stores.
YOU can help us reach these important goals in each state by making one simple donation that will process automatically on a monthly or quarterly basis. You will be a part of a historical movement that will change the way people view and treat animals and begin shutting down puppy mills across the country! And don't worry, you may cancel or update your donation at any time.
Our goal is to welcome 100 new Animal Advocates to our monthly giving program to boost the Puppy Mill Campaign and all of its monumental initiatives.
Join the voices of hundreds of Animal Advocates who take a stand for animals...
Take Action, Responsibility & Wildlife...
"Corporations Are People Too My Friends."
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.
Activism and Sustainability:
Gun Safety & Gun Laws
Cruelty Free
Death Penalty
Demand Action
Sustainable Action Network
Fairness and Equality:
Privatization
Voters Issues & Gerrymandering
Private Prisons & the War on Drugs
Finance, Housing & the Economy Corporate Responsibility:
Candidates, Bills, Laws & Protections
Wildlife & Oceania
Labeling & Transparency
Comprehensive Captivity & Hunting Results Databases
Hold YouTube Star Accountable for Appalling Dog Abuse
On August 6, Brooke Houts, a YouTube content creator and social media influencer with more than 325,000 YouTube subscribers, mistakenly uploaded a video to her channel showing her slapping, shoving, apparently spitting on, and otherwise brutalizing her Doberman dog,
Loopholes in Craigslist’s terms of use have opened the door people to buy, sell and give away animals on the website, often under cruel circumstances.
As a result, backyard breeders trading in sickly animals appear reputable to the unsuspecting eye. Unvetted adopters take in animals under false pretenses, often for dog fighting and torture. Pet flippers adopt animals from shelters for low fees only to sell them to the highest bidder.
These are only a few of the ways Craigslist’s terms of use are abused, and it must be stopped immediately.
End the Capture, Torture & Forced Performances of Wild Young Fillies
In the remote city of Burns in Oregon, hundreds of wild horses live in hellish cramped corrals after being removed from the public lands they once called home. Rob Sharpe, the Supervisor of the Burns Corrals has hand-picked a group of horses made up of 12 two-year-old wild fillies to go through the most detestable and invasive series of physical and emotional tortures. The sick grand finale begins soon—we must act to put a stop to this right now!
A dog was aggressively snatched out of her carer’s arms and thrown into oncoming traffic in North Charleston, South Carolina. The traumatized, tiny dog suffered fractured feet, a bruised lung, and a swollen liver. In agonizing pain, she remains in critical care where she is fighting for her life.
The alleged suspect is an ex-boyfriend of the dog’s guardian, Candace Lesston. On August 6 he spontaneously showed up to Lesston’s hotel, and upon failing to find her, allegedly turned to her dog in a fit of rage.
Lesston’s daughter recalls the man grabbing Poo from her arms and running, according to The Post and Courier. Two witnesses chased him before he tossed Poo onto the road like a football.
The Charleston Animal Society assisted with Poo’s immediate injuries and are charitably covering her vet costs, as well as raising funds for the prosecution of the offender.
Lesston filed a police report, and the North Charleston Police Department (NCPD) is investigating.
The Horseracing Integrity Act Would Mean More Dead Horses. The Horseracing Integrity Act speciously suggests that all that stands between horseracing and integrity is a national drug program overseen by a central organization.
First, drugs in racing is a divisive topic within the industry. In a recent Cronkite News article, Dr. Verlin Jones, a track vet with 30 years experience, says: “Right now in Arizona we have probably mid-level to low-level claimers. That population of horses comes with their own set of problems, so we deal with horses that have a higher level of injury… I think that right now these private practitioners on the back side, their hands are really, really handcuffed. When you’re dealing with this level of horse, they have a lot of problems. Those problems can be taken care of, but we have to have our full arsenal in order to do that.” Then this: “I really feel like horses today are having to run in more pain. More pain leads to muscle fatigue, muscle fatigue leads to bone fatigue, bone fatigue leads to catastrophic breakdowns.”
In other words, less drugs may mean more dead horses, at least at the more pedestrian tracks – which is to say, the majority of tracks.
In addition, the bill would ban raceday medication, more specifically Lasix. Many within racing believe that Lasix is therapeutic, as it purportedly controls pulmonary bleeding in fast-moving racehorses. In a Louisville Courier Journal article from April, renowned trainer Dale Romans says, “I like facts, and the facts are that we’ve been using [Lasix] and it doesn’t hurt horses.” Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, added, “I would hope the industry stakeholders understand the ban on the use of furosemide…will not prevent horses from suffering catastrophic injuries, and in fact, could cause further harm and should not be seen as a safety reform.”
But more to the point is what the Horseracing Integrity Act does not, because it cannot, address: The inherent cruelty and inevitable deadliness of horseracing. On the former, in addition to being torn from their mothers as mere babes, being bought and sold like common Amazon products, and subjected to lip tattoos, cribbing collars, nose chains, tongue ties, mouth bits, and whips, racehorses – innately social and mobile animals – are kept locked, alone, in tiny 12×12 stalls for over 23 hours a day. They are kept thus because as costly assets their owners are loath to risk injury in a more natural (humane) setting.
As to the killing, and contrary to what the reformers would have you believe, death at the track is, has always been, and always will be a built-in part of the system: From breeding for speed (big torsos, spindly legs, fragile ankles); to working pubescent bodies (the typical horse doesn’t fully mature until 6; the typical racehorse begins intensive training at 18 months); to the incessant grinding of those bodies (if they’re not racing, they’re not earning); to forcing them to “race” at an unnatural rate (breakneck) through unnatural means (perched, whip-wielding humans); to the commodification (the average racehorse is bought and sold several times over the course of his “career,” making his long-term well-being of no concern to his current people) – horseracing guarantees a certain level of killing. Guarantees.
In the final analysis, the only thing the HIA (or any other “reformist” legislation that may arise) would do is give Racing a desperately needed PR win, which, in turn, would likely help reverse its currently-declining fortunes – which, in turn, would condemn countless more horses to lives of abuse and premature, often gruesome, deaths.
These Deep Pocket Executives Must Take Responsibility for Killing Thousands of Sheep. Sign to Tell Western Australia That It's Time For Those Responsible to Pay.
Last year we told you about Emanuel Exports. The company got into hot water when they shipped more than 64,000 sheep to the middle east in 2017. During the voyage, 2,400 sheep perished from overheating. Shocking undercover footage released to Animals Australia and 60 Minutes captured how the sheep suffered before they died.
The mass death wasn't the company's first. In 2016, the Perth-based exporters lost more than 3,000 head of sheep under similar circumstances. But after more deaths the following year, the government said they would launch an investigation to determine whether or not the company had broken animal welfare laws. Now, two years after the poor sheep perished, Western Australia (WA) authorities have finally filed animal cruelty charges against the company and two executives.
Australia has strict live animal shipping laws and regulations that help ensure animals aren't treated cruelly during the journey nor in the country for which they are destined. In fact, the government has banned or suspended live exports to countries like Indonesia and Egypt in the past. They have also suspended Emanuel from exporting for their most recent breach of animal cruelty law. That's how we know that, if we keep the pressure up, we can convince officials to do the right thing again.
After more than 5,000 animals have died under this company's care in just two shipments, the government should have all the proof they need. It's time to throw the book at Emanuel Exports and the executives that allowed these disasters to happen.
Please sign the petition and tell Alannah MacTiernan, WA's Minister of Agriculture, to demand maximum punishment for those responsible.
On April 24, six officers led by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) stormed into a licensed private residence and violently seized four rescue coyotes from the only home they’ve ever known. The officers chased the terrified coyotes into a corner, shot them with tranquilizer darts and forcefully dragged them away from safety with choke poles.
Since then, three of the four precious coyotes have died. Luna, the sole survivor, has been held in isolation for months without her packmates and the only familiar human she trusts. She lies spiritless day and night in her own feces on a cold concrete floor; lonely, depressed and wasting away.
Luna’s caregiver, Tomi Tranchita, has cared for coyotes that were too habituated for release ever since Luna and her packmates were dropped at a local animal shelter 13 years ago. In order to legally care for them, she obtained a USDA license and IDNR state permits and built above the board enclosures on her property.
For 13 years, Luna and her packmates lived a happy life with Tomi. The coyotes received enrichment and hours of devotion and attention every day. Until they were cruelly confiscated, they only ever knew kindness from humans.
Tranchita is passionately fighting in court to get Luna home, where she can heal from her trauma and live out the rest of her life in peace.
Dog fighting is on the rise. While the cruel and murderous practice is banned in most places, unfortunately authorities usually don't prioritize enforcing these types of laws. Worse, dog fighting has found a new way to spread: via a website called Gumtree, where people are giving away dogs for free to fighting rings.
Let's be clear: dog fighting is a disgusting practice. It's billed as a form of "entertainment" for humans, but it's more akin to a brutal gladiator tournament. To prepare them for the ring, humans abuse dogs — usually pitbulls, terriers, and similar breeds — before forcing them to fight each other to the death. To bring out the animals' most violent behaviors, people beat, starve and torment them until they're brimming over with aggression. A dog only "wins" when it doesn't die.
Even more callously, people use these fights as a form of betting, putting money on which dog they think will survive the other's vicious attacks. No one should be making money watching this type of cruelty, and no one should be making a living off of procuring these dogs and forcing them into the rings in the first place.
Some websites, like Facebook and Craigslist, are trying to crack down on this practice by ending the sale of animals on their sites. Now we need to ask Gumtree to do the same thing. Will you sign the petition, and speak out for the dogs?
Last year in California more than 26,000 native animals were killed by Wildlife Services, a shadowy federal program that relies on guns, poisons and cruel traps to do its dirty business.
That's why we just went to court to shut down Wildlife Services' operations in 10 more California counties. County by county, state by state, we won't stop until we put Wildlife Services out of business.
Wildlife Services' trail of slaughter reaches far beyond California's borders. Nationwide last year, 1.5 million native animals were slaughtered by this government-sponsored killing operation, mostly at the behest of the agriculture industry.
These heartless operations cause immense suffering through the use of painful leg traps, strangulation snares, and aerial gunning.
Non-target animals are threatened too. Because of the program's indiscriminate methods, pets and protected wildlife like gray wolves have been killed — and it'll happen again if we don't stop them.
We've been fighting Wildlife Services for years — and we're winning. Just weeks ago we secured a ban on its use of deadly M-44s — spring-loaded capsules armed with cyanide spray — across more than 10 million acres of public land in Wyoming.
We also helped secure a ban on the targeting of beavers, minks, muskrats and otters by Wildlife Services in Oregon, saving hundreds of animals a year. And in California our legal action got the program to stop shooting and trapping beavers on more than 11,000 miles of river and 4 million acres of land.
We're winning our battles against Wildlife Services, but we still have a long way to go. We won't tolerate the purposeful, mass killing of wildlife.
Our legal victories save thousands of animals every year, but we need your help to keep up the pace.
Our appetite for cute puppies and kittens seems to be insatiable. Even as animal activists push people to adopt, not shop, unscrupulous commercial breeders continue to pump out new puppies and kittens like they are widgets made in a factory. "Puppy mills" is an accurate nickname for these operations.
But the State of Pennsylvania could stop this practice in its tracks. The state legislature is considering a bill that would regulate pet sales and root out unlicensed and illegal breeding operations. It would require pet stores to get animals from shelters and rescue organizations and force breeders to disclose their license number so consumers can know they are legit before they take a puppy or kitten home.
Puppy mills treat living creatures like commodities.
Animals are products to be created at the lowest possible cost and sold for the highest possible price to maximize profits. That leads to irresponsible breeding that leads to serious medical problems in the animals, much of which new pet parents can't discover until they've brought their new pet home. Animals awaiting adoption often live in deplorable conditions.
California and Maryland have already taken a stand against puppy mills by passing common sense laws that ensure these animals are treated as living beings, not just a chance for profit. It's been nearly a year since Pennsylvania introduced its own version. We need the state to keep momentum going.
Another Horse Dead on the Havasupai Trail
For years, eyewitnesses have reported the neglect and deaths of horses used for packing tourist gear along the Havasupai trail in the Grand Canyon. The latest complaint describes a dead horse simply discarded in the middle of the trail in August. We may never know what happened to her, what suffering she endured. But you can help the other horses. Please, don't use animals to pack gear when visiting the Havasupai trail.
A loophole in international animal trade regulations allows trophy hunters to legally kill animals deemed as extinct in the wild. And they’re doing it with the blessing of the US and U.K. governments, as revealed by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is a trade agreement between world governments. CITES classifies animals into three appendices, and Appendix 1 contains the most critically endangered species. However, instead of protecting these magnificent creatures, CITES awards permits to trophy hunters to brutally murder them for fun.
Trading nearly extinct animals listed in Appendix 1 is banned except when it comes to killing them for “commercial purposes”.
Approximately 2,500 endangered species trophies have been imported into the U.K. between 2004 and 2014 because of this loophole. 2,500 animals that should have been protected, but instead were legally murdered in the name of entertainment.
Even more sickening, ranch owners in the US are breeding animals classified as extinct for the sole purpose of selling them as paid trophy ‘hunts’ for profit.
Several animals declared as extinct are advertised at captive hunting ranges, such as the scimitar-horned oryx and Père David’s deer. The federal government regulates this industry and issues permits through various treaties, including CITES.
“The domestic wildlife trade is the dirty underbelly of the trophy hunting industry,” said Kitty Block, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. Block told CBS News that “Animals are fenced-in, hand-reared, hand-fed, and they’re baited so food is out when hunters come. Hunters are then driven up to the area where animal is eating and they’re shot there.”
Despite these horrific revelations, CITES is an important global animal trade regulator. Before CITES, wildlife trade was unrestrained. Animals that were killed and exported illegally from one country could easily be imported legally into another.
It’s time to do better than lax regulations that legally permit trophy hunters to kill animals declared as extinct for cruel entertainment.
We must close these loopholes and urge CITES to stop issuing legal permits allowing trophy hunters to kill the world’s rarest exotic animals. They deserve our protection and should not be pawns in a sick game.
CITES international conference started last weekend in Geneva and runs for 2 weeks. There, delegates from 180 countries will deliberate changes to the rules. 50 Members of the European Parliament have already written to Ivonne Higuero, secretary-general of CITES, urging her to close down these loopholes.
We can make demands too. Join us in speaking out against allowing hunters to mercilessly murder nearly extinct animals by emailing the head of CITES Ivonne Higuero at info@cites.org.
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"Corporations Are People Too My Friends."
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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