Animals & Wildlife Coping with COVID-19, The Bible, Neko & 80 wet markets in NYC, let alone in China
- Don Lichterman
- Apr 16, 2020
- 11 min read
Welcome to the Animal & Wildlife Welfare, Abuse & Crime Report brought to you by the Sustainable Action Network (SAN)!
Stop China from Abusing Wild Animals for COVID-19 "Treatment"
China's National Health Commission recently released a list of recommended coronavirus treatments. Despite temporarily banning the trade and consumption of wild animals just days before, this list inexplicably recommends an injection containing bear bile and goat horn as a treatment for COVID-19.
Meet Neko, a Dog Meat Survivor
Last year you helped us rescue 28 innocent victims from cramped cages on route to Bok Nal, South Korea's annual dog meat slaughter-fest. Three dogs sadly succumbed to their severe abuse, but Neko is one of the lucky survivors who made it. Watch our touching video to see how Neko's life has been changed forever in her new home and how in turn, she has changed her guardian's life as well!
Last year, you helped us rescue 28 innocent victims from cramped cages on route to Bok Nal, South Korea’s annual dog meat slaughter-fest.
Three dogs sadly succumbed to their severe abuse, but Neko is one of the lucky survivors who made it.
Watch our touching video to see how Neko’s life has been changed forever in her new home – and how, in turn, she has changed her guardian’s life as well!
Every year, we rescue and rehome hundreds of dog meat survivors with our South Korean partners at Jindo Love Rescue.
With your support, we can turn even more of these tragic stories into happily-ever-afters.
Please support our ditch dog meat campaign: https://www.idausa.org/campaign/dog-m...
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, fewer people are traveling, which means dog meat survivors with homes waiting for them are stuck.
It’s become a rescue traffic jam, while costs to care for rescued dogs continue to mount — it costs $150 every month to cover care for an individual dog. Many dogs with adopters are waiting for a flight volunteer. More still are waiting to be adopted.
If you’re traveling from Seoul to the U.S. or Canada, please click here.
If you can’t be a flight volunteer but want to help dog meat survivors, please click here. Help Save Their Lives
In a tremendous stride toward protecting animals and human health, China’s Ministry of Agriculture has officially proposed guidelines to reclassify dogs as pets, rather than livestock.
“As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilization and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been ‘specialized’ to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in a notice.
The landmark decision comes amid the global coronavirus outbreak, which stemmed from the transmission of the COVID-19 virus from animals to humans at a wildlife market in Wuhan. These markets also often sell live dogs and cats to be killed and butchered on-site.
The upgraded status of dogs reflects changing views about dog and cat consumption in China, where dog meat is considered a delicacy in many regions but is becoming less common.
While the new designation does not explicitly ban the dog meat trade, it may pave the way for future legislation by serving as a basis for more protective laws. It’s also the latest in a series of promising moves taken throughout China to protect public health and animal welfare, including a ban on wildlife consumption.
China is taking a step in the right direction by recognizing dogs as pets, but more must be done to end the cruel dog and cat meat trade throughout the country, where more than 10 million canines and 4 million cats are slaughtered and consumed annually. Shenzhen recently became the first Chinese city to ban dog and cat meat, and now we must urge the national government to follow suit.
Join the fight against dog and cat meat by signing Lady Freethinker’s ongoing petition calling on Cui Tiankai, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., to push for a nationwide ban on this barbaric trade.
NY State Health Commissioner Howard A. Zucker, M.D., J.D.; NYC Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot; and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
New York state should lead the world by example. How? By immediately closing down and permanently banning all cruel and dangerous live animal “wet” markets.
New York is the epicenter for the global COVID-19 pandemic, and just like the wet markets in China that gave birth to the crisis, more than 80 dangerous live animal markets are operating today in New York City alone, despite the New York State of Pause Executive Order.
PETA Asia Goes Inside ‘Wet Markets’, Where Diseases Like COVID-19 Originate
Soaked wet with blood, guts, feces, and other bodily fluids and parts, these markets are ideal environments for the incubation and spreading of zoonotic diseases, as a mix of animals are jam-packed into tight cages awaiting slaughter.
NYC is particularly susceptible to a new, even more uncontainable virus spreading through its population of over 8 million people, as all residents live in relatively close quarters. As live animal wet markets remain open, public health and safety are at risk. In addition to the current uncontained COVID virus, new variants of COVID could emerge, reinfecting humans and causing a global viral pandemic relapse. Such introductions could be more deadly, and plague even more people globally.
The facts are clear: live animal markets — whether in Wuhan, China or on the streets of New York — are breeding grounds for deadly zoonotic diseases that then become communicable human-to-human viruses. The government must immediately shut them all down in the interest of public health and safety.
Sign this petition urging lawmakers to do everything in their power to shut down all live animal markets in the state of New York. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PETITION TEXT
In early April – months after the COVID-19 outbreak began – PETA Asia investigators went inside "wet markets" (also called "live-animal markets") in Indonesia and Thailand that are still operating. Take Action
Despite experts' belief that the novel coronavirus originated in such a market in China – and although traders have been warned by officials to stop selling dogs, cats, bats, rats, and other animals – both animal flesh and live, terrified animals are still being openly sold in markets in Asia and all over the world.
Please, join PETA in urging the World Health Organization to call for an end to deadly "wet markets" around the globe: Take Action
The Annual Ritual of Dog Slaughter in Togo Must End. Sign to Ask the Government to Ban it...Sign Now
Each July, thousands of teenage boys in Togo, Africa, spend a full two weeks gorging on dog meat as part of a 'traditional initiation.' The first week, the teens go into hiding and the second is spent participating in a wrestling competition known as Evala.
In order to become a member of society, each young man must perform the ritual annually for three years. As the Evala wrestling practice spreads across more locations, so does the brutal mass slaughtering of dogs for dog meat, which is seen as the wrestler's secret weapon for success.
Each competitor desires the attributes which dogs possess: loyalty, courage, intelligence, endurance, cunning, faithfulness and so on. It is falsely believed eating dog meat will transfer the dog's attributes to the consumer, giving him supernatural powers over his opponent.
The number of dogs slaughtered for the Evala festival each year is unknown. We do know thousands of young men from numerous different tribes compete against each other, so the number of dogs killed would be staggering.
A group known as Fight Dog Meat is calling for the Evala festival to ban the slaughter of dogs and consumption of dog meat.
It also suggests that Togo officials embrace this window of opportunity to become a professional event, guaranteeing the survival of the wrestling performance of athleticism.
Did You Know? All About Pigeons!
Chances are you’ve seen pigeons in your neighborhood—but did you know that these birds can fly up to 50 miles per hour or that a baby pigeon is called a "squeaker"? Written and composed by Tony Award winners Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, the video set to a playful tune uses adorable animation and age-appropriate language to reveal interesting facts about these marvelous birds.
These Animals Need Your Help During the Pandemic!
There’s no working from home for the “miracle workers” on PETA’s field team. While staying at least 6 feet away from animals’ human guardians, wearing masks and gloves, our fieldworkers are still heading out—as they do all 365 days of the year—to low-income communities, where they get up close and personal with dogs whose whole lonely lives are spent chained in the far reaches of a backyard. Help them by donating an unopened bag of dog or cat food! https://www.peta.org/blog/covid-19-pe...
Animals are struggling to survive outside of workplaces that are now empty due to COVID-19.
Community cats make their homes around businesses, and birds migrate through these areas or nest nearby. Squirrels and other wild animals like raccoons and opossums can be very reliant on human food waste as a means to eat.
To compound the problem, it is also springtime, which means mating season for mammals and birds. Millions of birds are migrating and may return to areas with little to no food. So, in addition to struggling to feed themselves, many birds and mammals are also struggling to feed their offspring.
What can you do to help these animals during this difficult period?
Was a coworker feeding cats or birds at your workplace? If so, check in with the coworker to see if they are continuing to do so. If they aren't, consider taking over daily feeding and providing fresh water until this passes and life returns to normal.
The stay-at-home orders in most states allow someone to care for animals in need. Please check your local or state stay-at-home order to confirm this is still the case.
If you need help buying or securing donations of birdseed or cat food, check with your local animal rescues, food banks, and churches to see what resources are available. You can also ask friends or family who may be less affected by the shutdown to help purchase food and supplies.
To learn what you can do to help wild animals affected by the shutdown, check in with local wildlife rehabbers or rescues. You can find a list of wildlife resources by doing an Internet search using your city name and "wildlife rehabbers."
These are trying times for everyone, animals included. Please watch out for one another as well as for other animals in need.
For more advice we encourage you to read our 10 Tips: How to Help Your Animal Companions and Others During the COVID-19 Outbreak.
What Does the Bible Say About Animals?
PETA LAMBS (or “least among my brothers and sisters,” from Matthew 25:40) is a resource for Christians who want to learn more about how our faith should influence our relationship with animals. PETA LAMBS come from all walks of life.
We are united first by our faith in Christ and second by our common desire to be better stewards of God's creation.
We're asking all Christians to behave like Christians toward other creatures.
After all, shouldn't the Christian community be leading the charge toward more compassionate, sustainable choices for a world "on earth as it is in heaven"?
If you follow Jesus, don't support cruelty to animals, and want to take care of God's Earth, you're one of the PETA LAMBS. https://www.petalambs.com/
Life for endangered species in Arizona just got a whole lot harder, thanks to a bill that will allow private property owners to hide any and all information about threatened wildlife living on their land in the name of a cooprivate property rights.
Without this information, conservationists can't protect those species and greedy developers will surely destroy the habitats of endangered flora and fauna!
Arizona alone is home to 65 species that are listed under the United States' Endangered Species Act (ESA). The state has a responsibility to support and conserve their populations, or they could be lost forever.
That is why it is so abhorrent that Arizona's legislators would pass a bill like HB 2749 that would give a leg up to big developers while crushing what's left of already vulnerable populations of wildlife.
This is a ridiculous, thinly veiled attempt to give yet another pass to big developers, no matter the cost.
But we believe the cost of losing Arizona's endangered species forever is too high.
In a welcome animal rights victory, landmark legislation prohibiting the third-party sale of puppies and kittens for profit has become law in England, the UK government announced.
Lucy’s Law — named after a cavalier King Charles spaniel who was born in a Welsh puppy farm in 2008 and callously bred to produce multiple puppy litters — is designed to stop illegal puppy farming and ban third-party dealers, making all dog and cat breeders accountable for the welfare of the animals in their care.
People who want to add a puppy or kitten to their family will now have to acquire one directly from a licensed breeder or adopt from a rescue center. Traders who sell these animals without a licence can face up to six months in prison, or an unlimited fine.
The new legislation came into effect following a long campaign headed by veterinarian and animal welfare advocate Marc Abraham, which was supported by high-profile figures such as Brian May, Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan.
“I’m incredibly proud to have led the 10-year campaign to ban cruel puppy and kitten dealers and to get this essential Lucy’s Law legislation over the line,” said Abraham, who is also the founder of Pup Aid. “I’d like to give a huge thanks to the UK Government for passing this law, as well as every animal-loving parliamentarian, celebrity, welfare organization, and member of the public that supported us.”
“Lucy was an incredibly brave dog,” he continued, “and it’s right that her memory is honoured with such an important piece of legislation to help end puppy farm cruelty; protecting breeding dogs just like her, as well as cats, their young, and also unsuspecting animal-lovers from the dangers of irresponsible breeding and cruel puppy and kitten dealers.”
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Purchase gifts that help animals! 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.
