The Animal Legal Defense Fund, PETA, In Defense of Animals, Senator Raymond Lesniak / The Lesniak Institute for American Leadership, the Sustainable Action Network (SAN) & Rescue Network
PETA Fieldworkers Deliver Water to Dogs Left Outside in the Hot Weather
Debunking Dairy: Butter Does NOT Come From Happy Cows
NBA Star Lonnie Walker Risks It All for Dogs Trapped in Hot Cars
Victory: Arizona Bans Cruel Wildlife Killing Contests
We're thrilled to announce a major victory for wild animals in Arizona! The Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously to ban wildlife killing contests for predatory and furbearing species. In Defense of Animals and fellow allies on the National Coalition to End Wildlife Killing Contests advocated against these barbaric contests. Hundreds of coyotes, bobcats, cougars, foxes and other species will be spared each year thanks to this wonderful decision. Click here to read more and to help out!
Remove Raccoon Drowning Lawyer from Florida Bar
A sickening viral video surfaced recently which shows how Florida attorney Thomas Cope mercilessly shoved a young raccoon overboard into the ocean, leaving the terrified animal to drown, while screaming, "So long sucker!" Don't let Cope get away with drowning an innocent animal at sea. Tell the Florida Bar to hold Cope accountable for his heartless cruelty. Click here to read more and to help out!
Convicted Animal Abuser Leaves Court in Handcuffs
A Mississippi man charged with intentionally starving his four dogs has been convicted of animal cruelty and will now serve at least some time behind bars. By his admission, Robert Harrison of Kilmichael, Mississippi only saw the dogs in his “care” once within seven weeks, which ultimately lead to the tragic loss of four innocent lives.
A Kilmichael city employee who witnessed the slow, torturous neglect of Harrison’s dogs asked our Justice for Animals Campaign Director, Doll Stanley for help. A seizure order was immediately issued, and Stanley was accompanied by Montgomery County Deputy ArJames Adair and Hope Animal Sanctuary staff to rescue the suffering dogs. Tragically, upon examination, two veterinarians determined that all four of the severely neglected dogs could not be saved, and in a final act of mercy, they were euthanized.
On June 11, 2019, Stanley presented condemning evidence of Harrison’s constructive abandonment of his dogs as he stood trial. Despite having court-appointed counsel and with a desperate attempt thrown in to blame the starvation of his dogs on his son, Harrison could not escape conviction. Montgomery County Justice Court Judge Larry Bamberg found Robert Harrison guilty of the charge of § 97-41-16. (2.) (a.) Maliciously injuring dogs or cats. This misdemeanor charge of simple cruelty to a dog or cat carries a fine of up to one thousand dollars, a maximum of six months incarceration, or both.
While we are pleased that Judge Bamberg handed Harrison a six-month jail term, we are disappointed that Bamberg arranged it so that Harrison will only actually serve two months in jail, with another four months hanging over his head if he dares to violate the terms of his two-year probation. His probation will be supervised to prevent him from keeping animals.
No punishment can reconcile malicious acts of animal abuse; there is only the satisfaction that the abuser is deprived of freedom and deterred from committing similar crimes in the future. We will continue to fight for justice for animals to create communities in which all of its members are safe and free from harm. Please help us accomplish this and help support our work.
Justice for Helpless Duck Beaten With Baseball Bat
In early May in Alexander City, Alabama, Thomas "Landon" Grant and Jacob Frye pulled a Muscovy duck from a pond on the campus of Central Alabama Community College and beat the helpless bird nearly to death with a bat. Help us ensure this despicable duo receive felony convictions for this brutal and senseless crime which resulted in excruciating pain and suffering and the ultimate death of an innocent animal! Click here to read more and to help out!
Stop Cruel Horse, Goat and Cow Hobbling in Mississippi
Imagine being thirsty and starved almost to death with water and food close by, but that your legs have been tied together, or "hobbled," and the ropes that confine you are stopping you from reaching the vital provisions you desperately need. Law enforcement officials are powerless to help horses, goats, cows and other animals who commonly face this common form of torture in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. Act now to free horses, goats and cows from this slow torturous death — end hobbling, tethering, and deprivation in Tallahatchie County! Click here to read more and to help out!
Audubon: Stomping on Terrified Fish is Not Conservation
In a vicious display of animal cruelty, employees of Cabela's fishing store were recently filmed stomping and crushing fish to death. The fish were captives in an incredibly cruel "catch and release pond," where members of the public repeatedly hook and drag fish by their sensitive mouths over and over again. The National Audubon Society recently awarded a medal to the CEO of Cabela's parent company, Bass Pro Shops and can end the cruelty. Help us voice the silent screams of these fish: join us in urging Audubon to denounce fish torture at Cabela's and Bass Pro Shop stores! Click here to read more and to help out!
Urgent: Save Cows from Hawaii Dairy Farm
Nearly six months ago, Big Island Dairy in Hawaii was forced to shut down its operation for a violation of the federal Clean Water Act. The Ōʻōkala community had reported that the company was releasing animal waste into nearby waterways that eventually ran off into the ocean.
As a result of this closure, there are now 800 mother cows and their calves who need our help. We don’t have capes, but we have our supporters and our wonderful staff who are working with other groups in Hawaii to rescue and rehome these lovely individuals.
So far, In Defense of Animals has contributed $2,500 to our rescue partners, The Hawaii Lava Flow Animal Rescue Network, which is on the ground in Hawaii RIGHT NOW facilitating rescues.
Every dollar donated will help us rescue and rehome more animals. We are so excited to share precious moments with you when these precious moms and their crying babies finally reunite… when they arrive at their loving forever homes… when they realize their fate has changed and they are finally free! Please, help out today.
Puppy Mill Lobbyists and Local Laws!
As the puppy mill and pet store industries continue to pad their pockets by selling sick and neglected animals, their lobbyists are going state by state influencing lawmakers on the state level to pass baldly cruel and undemocratic preemption bills. These state-level bills seek to invalidate crucial local laws at the city and county level that ban the sale of dogs and cats raised in horrific puppy and kitten mills. We need your help to fight against these backward bills!
Preemption bills allow the heartless and money-hungry puppy mill industry to continue to crowd animals into tiny, filthy cages, often without adequate veterinary care. These state-level bills strip cities and towns of their ability to protect the animals in their communities, and consumers are left with the false impression that the state will fill the regulatory void.
Such preemption bills could wipe out more than 300 ordinances nationwide that prohibit the retail sale of dogs and cats. In Florida alone, there are 67 of these local ordinances and counting. Rather than respect consumer concern for the welfare of dogs and cats, Florida legislators have disgustingly sided with corrupt puppy mill lobbyists who have attempted on three separate occasions to sneak language into unrelated state bills that would have preempted local bans.
Thankfully, it is now clear that the puppy mill lobby has made a grave error, as these underhanded preemption efforts have galvanized animal advocates across the country in opposition. Animal advocacy organizations have defeated preemption bills in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Tennessee. Most recently, thanks to your calls and emails, Florida’s third attempt to overturn local puppy mill bans failed yet again. We need your help in continuing this fight. Please help withe IDF's to our ongoing efforts to stop puppy mills.
Wild Horses Still at Grave Risk After Advisory Board Meeting
The Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program utilizes a National Advisory Board made up of nine members appointed by the Bureau. This Board has always been stacked with biased individuals who have sided with ranchers who use our public lands for their own livestock and personal gain. At the July 9-11, 2019 meetings in Boise, Idaho, we learned of the thinly veiled plans to annihilate America's wild horse and burro herds following U.S. Representative Chris Stewart's "Path Forward" document. Click here to read more and to help out!
Protect bulls from bloodshed. As a caring person, you'd be horrified to see a screaming mob of tourists descend on your hometown with the sole purpose of tormenting panicked bulls.
In the coming days, thousands of rowdy tourists, some drunk, will pour onto the streets of Pamplona, Spain, for the hideous spectacle known as the Running of the Bulls. When the dust settles, the human participants will stumble home – but every bull who's forced to flee in panic, slipping and sliding on the narrow, cobblestone streets, will meet a gruesome end in the bullring.
Before being released onto the streets of Pamplona, bulls are held in dark enclosures to disorientate them when they are forced out into the light – often with an electric shock prod – only to encounter the roaring, drunken crowd. Terrified and confused, they run down the beer-soaked streets, often falling or crashing into buildings or spectators.
When the run is over, each bull faces prolonged cruelty in the bullring at the hands of dagger- and sword-wielding men. Some bulls will drown in their own blood when the matador's blade is driven into their lungs. Others remain conscious and in pain while their ears and tail are hacked off as "trophies". Then their broken, still-breathing bodies are dragged from the arena in chains.
This cruel event is so stomach-churning that many spectators – including those who thought it would be fun to boast about having run down Pamplona's streets in front of the bulls – become upset by this ghastly old spectacle and leave before the end of it, never to see another bullfight. But by then, it's too late – the price of their tickets has already helped prop up this dying industry.
Campaigns by PETA and our international affiliates are garnering publicity and results around the globe, getting people to realise the horrors that take place in Pamplona and changing people's minds about participating. Today, because of education and activism, something that was unthinkable in earlier times has happened: the vast majority of Spanish people reject bullfighting, and tourists are now attending anti-bullfighting demonstrations rather than supporting the cruel spectacle.
Pressure from PETA and Spanish groups is helping to effect legislative change, too. More than 100 Spanish municipalities have declared themselves anti-bullfighting – and by upholding a ban on the torture and stabbing of bulls during the cruel Toro de la Vega festival, Spain's Supreme Court recently took a stand against the ritualised violence that stains the country's reputation. We must keep the pressure on!
We (Story by are pleased to toast the successful surgery on Friday for Vincent the Miracle Cat (Can you guess the origin of Vincent’s name? Pretty obvious.)
All is well! Vincent’s ear was badly damaged and needed to be completely removed. His tail is partially amputated and his hip was manipulated back in the right place and, of course, he was neutered. Big day for the little guy.
Dr. Ryan Ford from Red Bank Veterinary Hospital did the surgery. Monmouth County SPCA veterinarian Dr. Nicole Feddersen took Vincent home after the surgery and for the weekend. Overall Vincent is doing well.
Vincent has to be quarantined for four months before adoption, because it’s not known if he was bitten by another animal. He will be in good hands during this period, after which Vincent will be adopted. Sorry, you won’t be able to adopt Vincent, his rescuer, Sue, has first dibs.
The Lesniak Institute will be launching a fundraiser for the Monmouth County SPCA to cover the cost of Vincent’s care and treatment with an opportunity to see Vincent and give Sue a hug for her courageous rescue. Click to see the full story
The Original Story:
On her way to the funeral of Salena Lesniak, Senator Lesniak’s wife who died suddenly last Tuesday, Sue saw an injured cat alongside the roadway. Here’s her story … Driving up Route 9 at approximately 7:15 a.m., I saw a little cat in the second lane of the highway getting passed by cars that barely missed him. As I passed, I saw his head go up and realize he was alive. What would Salena do? I asked. Rescue the cat! Click to continue reading.
In recent weeks, there have been eyewitness reports of kittens being thrown out of vehicles in Craven County, North Carolina — and several kittens found on the side of a highway with injuries consistent with road rash — an area on the body where the skin has been scraped off.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for leaving these kittens to die.
Multiple kittens have been recovered and treated for severe injuries. With road rash, the affected area of skin will appear red, raw, and inflamed. Bleeding is common, and pain and swelling could last for several days.
Such acts of violence have no place in our communities and cannot be disregarded. Studies show that animal abusers are also 5x more likely to commit violence against people — threatening the safety of both people and animals.
Animal cruelty needs to be taken as seriously as any human violence. Not only to prevent future crimes against people, but because animals are victims, too — and they deserve justice just like you and me.
Measure of Justice Delivered for Dog Left to Die in Pile of Trash
The man who heartlessly abandoned his dog in his backyard to die has been found guilty of aggravated animal cruelty. Although the abuser was absent from his trial, he was ordered to pay a relatively large fine for his merciless abuse of the dog, who is now called Gladys Knight by her rescuers.
The appalling degree of neglect Gladys Knight endured at the hands of Milton Craig was so severe that he was unaware of the sex or age of the dog when she was rescued from the pile of trash where she was left to slowly starve. He claimed the dog, whom he referred to as “James,” was 18-19 years old and was sick, so he put “him” into the pen in his backyard to die “peacefully.” When taken from the residence, Gladys Knight was skin and bones, and her teeth were broken, likely from chewing rocks as her only source of “food.”
On June 6, 2019, Simpson County Justice Court Judge Ted L. Blakeney found Milton Craig guilty of the torturous deprivation of his dog and a $1,000 fine was ordered. For a first offense, the crime of aggravated cruelty is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a $2,500 fine, a six-month jail term, or both. The convicted individual would also be prohibited from having another animal for two years. Although jail time is warranted for this heinous crime, Judge Blakeney determined that Craig’s health would place a burden on his jailers, so incarceration was unfortunately not ordered in this case.
We delivered over 10,000 of your signatures to a sympathetic Prosecuting Attorney, L. Wesley Broadhead, to urge him to push for the maximum sentencing of Craig. We affirm that all acts of cruelty are deserving of the most severe punishments the law allows; however, we are generally satisfied that Craig’s crime was taken seriously overall, and he received a fairly significant fine considering the economics of the region.
Craig’s entire community was horrified to learn of Gladys Knight’s narrow escape from death, and will be watching closely to ensure he never has the opportunity to commit an act of animal cruelty again.
Our friends with Rescue Revolution of Mississippi continue to care for Gladys Knight, and she is recovering splendidly
We are making headway in our campaign to get justice for animals and thank you for joining the fight through your kind support. It will take all of us to end the exploitation and suffering of our fellow species!
Shriners International: Stop Abusing Elephants in Circuses!
Shriners is well-known for its Shriners Hospitals for Children. However, Shriners circus fundraisers are rooted in harm to elephants and other animals. Generally, the money raised from these circuses does not even go to care for children at the hospitals. Raising money from the abuse of elephants and other animals is never justified. Tell Shriners International and Shriners everywhere to stop abusing elephants in circuses now! Click here to read more and to help out!
Today the largest undercover dairy investigation in history is being released with video evidence documenting systemic and illegal abuse at Fair Oaks Farm in Fair Oaks, Indiana.
Calf-Torturing Farm to Livestream Surveillance Footage...
Newborn calves are kicked, beaten, and burned on a farm that supplies to the dairy brand, “Fairlife.” Animal Recovery Mission filmed the shocking scenes at one of Fairlife’s major suppliers, Fair Oaks Farms, in Indiana. Under extreme scrutiny, Fair Oaks Farms has claimed it will increase surveillance and make it visible to in-person visitors to increase transparency, but this isn’t credible since most people don’t have the capacity to travel to its farm. Please join us in demanding Fair Oaks’ surveillance be live-streamed to the internet to protect animals from the worst abuses! Click here to read more and to help out!
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"Corporations Are People Too My Friends."
Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. 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.
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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Private Prisons & the War on Drugs
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Candidates, Bills, Laws & Protections
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