Isolated. This is how most of us have spent the last few months.
Social distancing and self-isolation were done for the sake of public health and, as the curve flattens, we can look forward to life gradually returning to normal. But, for animals currently imprisoned in zoos in the United States and across the globe, unnatural captivity will never end.
Robbed of the lives they were meant to live – in the wild, among their own kind, free to move about their natural habitats – these animals will spend their entire lives in confinement, often in isolation or in contrived and unnatural social arrangements. And, all of this is done for the sake of profit and human entertainment.
Animals in zoos experience for a lifetime what we humans have experienced for a few short, if harrowing, months.
On Friday morning, Regan Russell, a dedicated animal rights activist, died after being hit by a transport truck carrying pigs to a Burlington, Ontario slaughterhouse.
Russell was peacefully protesting outside Fearman’s Pork, where activists sometimes provide water to suffering pigs en route to their tragic demise.
The 65-year-old woman, along with dozens of protesters from Toronto Pig Save and other animal activist groups, stationed herself at the pork processing plant in defiance of a recently-passed “ag gag” bill, which attempts to protect the agricultural industry from whistleblowers and activists, banning protesters from interacting with farmed animals.
As Russell harmlessly demonstrated her compassion for the innocent pigs passing by, a truck transporting the animals to their deaths ran her over. The devoted activist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Since 1979, Russell fought for the animal rights movement, regularly attending weekly vigils outside Fearman’s Pork.
“She died fighting for what she believed in,” Russell’s long-time partner Mark Powell told the Animal Save Movement. “Whatever it cost, she would pay. Sometimes, it’s money. Sometimes, it’s this.”
Toronto Pig Save plans to hold a vigil in Russell’s honor and is trying to convince Fearman’s to relocate some of its pigs to sanctuaries in her memory. Although the police are involved, it’s unknown whether an arrest will result from this needless and unspeakable tragedy.
“Regan was a kind, elegant, strong, and courageous person,” said Anita Krajnc, founder of the Animal Save Movement. “She was a mentor to others, and she always did activism with kindness in her heart.”
This Is the Leather Industry: Grueling Long-Distance Journeys Across Oceans and Around the World
Where does leather come from? This video by cinematographer Manfred Karremann shows the cruel way that live animals are transported halfway around the world on weeks-long journeys before being killed for leather. It can take days to transport animals across national borders. The stress of transport—often compounded by lengthy delays—results in not only immeasurable suffering but also a heightened risk of spreading diseases—some of which can be passed on to humans. It's impossible to tell who or where the leather in shoes, handbags, or other items came from—you could be wearing the skin of one of these suffering animals right now. Find out how you can help end this cruelty here: https://investigations.peta.org/gruel...
One of our nation’s undersea jewels is under attack and we need your help.
The Administration’s new proposal for expansion, which shrinks the size of the original proposal by more than 50%, is primarily based on boundaries drawn by an oil and gas industry member. The Administration is even considering opening the entire sanctuary to destructive longline fishing and spear fishing, which can incidentally kill threatened and endangered species.
Juvenile manta rays, sea turtles and more are in danger.
Flower Garden Banks Sanctuary is one of the only protected areas in the entire Gulf of Mexico. This Sanctuary and the proposed expansion areas are home to the Gulf’s largest densities of deep-water coral, host nursery habitat for threatened juvenile giant manta rays, and are visited by protected species like loggerhead and endangered hawksbill sea turtles.
But NOAA’s new boundaries would abandon the potential protection of more than 200 square miles and leave sensitive habitats between banks exposed to bycatch from fishing lines, spearfishing and oil and gas exploration.
We must hold NOAA accountable right now and demand that they fulfill their duty to protect this rare aquatic habitat and its marine wildlife
Bald Tiger Suffering in Deplorable Conditions at Waccatee Zoological Farm
Waccatee is a ramshackle roadside zoo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where neglect runs rampant. Lila, the tiger is almost completely bald, apparently suffering from an unknown medical condition and may not be receiving adequate veterinary care. Lila is also frequently seen pacing—an abnormal behavior that is a sign of severe psychological distress likely due to spending years in a tiny cage with almost nothing to do.
Lions Pacing in Transport Cages at University of North Alabama Football Game
Lion siblings Una and Leo III were documented pacing in transport cages during a noisy University of North Alabama football game. After Una’s recent passing, PETA is offering to assist the university in retiring her brother to an accredited sanctuary. Lions are the most social of all the big cats, and at a spacious accredited sanctuary, Leo III could be given the chance to live his remaining days with a pride of other lions. PETA is also asking the university to cement its legacy of compassion and respect for lions, who have long represented the school’s teams and traditions, and commit to never using live animal mascots again.
Overheating Puppies, Sick Kittens, & Rotting Corpses at Live Animal Markets
Watching this pug overheat and gasp for air is heartbreaking. Puppies, kittens, birds, and more are sold to ANYONE for ANY REASON at this pet market. So much suffering, abuse, and neglect is happening every day at markets like this — they must all be shut down IMMEDIATELY.
Strung up by their necks, electrocuted, and boiled into dog meat soup.
This horror is a reality for scared, defenseless dogs during the Boknal Dog Eating Days in Korea, happening on 3 dates throughout July and August.
The first Boknal starts tomorrow!
With your help today to help us work to end dog slaughter, aid rescuers and fight animal cruelty across the globe?
Korea is the only nation in the world with large-scale factory dog meat farms. That's why Lady Freethinker is sponsoring ads, distributing petitions, and supporting rescue group Save Korean Dogs to help end the slaughter and give dogs a second chance at life. But none of this is possible without you.
Help us change the hearts and minds of those who eat dogs.
Your gift today means we can keep educating people about the cruelty of the dog meat trade and influence real policy change, as well as aid the rescue and care of dogs facing slaughter.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to open the doors for trophy hunters to start baiting brown bears for fun in a national wildlife refuge.
And if FWS succeeds with its plan, there’s no telling how much damage will be done—to bears, to other wildlife, and even to humans in the area.
Here’s what’s happening: Trump’s FWS recently proposed a rule that would overturn Obama-era protections that prohibit baiting of brown bears in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. It’s a rule that was designed to protect those bears, and the delicate ecosystem in the region.
Undoing it could be absolutely catastrophic:
It would allow hunters to use junk food to bait and kill brown bears
It could put mother bears in their crosshairs—leaving orphaned cubs to succumb to cruel starvation, predation, or exposure—because females with cubs have high energetic needs and are especially attracted to bait
And it would endanger humans in the region, by teaching bears to chase down human scents at campgrounds, picnic areas, and trails
This rule change is a mistake—Alaskans know it, and so does the rest of the country. But the Trump administration has a devastatingly poor track record when it comes to protecting wildlife, and has made it their mission to appease a tiny minority of trophy hunters who want to kill iconic animals like black bears, grizzly bears, and wolves.
A killing spree has almost entirely wiped out wolves on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska's Tongass National Forest in just one season.
We Just Took Action to Save Alaskan Wolves
165 wolves were trapped out of a population last estimated at 170, suddenly pushing these wolves to the brink of extinction. It's devastating.
So just moments ago we filed a petition to get the remaining Alexander Archipelago wolves the Endangered Species Act protection they urgently need to survive.
Please support our fight for these magnificent wolves with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
The wolves, whose coats range from dark gray to pure black and even cinnamon, were slaughtered after Alaska, in its latest trapping season, removed limits on how many could be killed.
Taking away those limits went against the state's own recommendations, and now, heartbreakingly, the wolves of Prince of Wales Island are almost gone.
Alexander Archipelago wolves were denied protection under the Act in 2016, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claimed these wolves were stable.
It's all too clear what happens when vulnerable wildlife isn't protected: They get shot and trapped out of existence.
We must act now before it's too late. That's why the Center has been working to protect these wolves since 1996 and why we petitioned the Service today to save them.
Only the powers of the Act can save Alexander Archipelago wolves. There must be tighter restrictions on trapping and hunting, and much greater protection of their habitat. The old-growth forest they need to raise pups and hunt their primary food source, Sitka black-tailed deer, is being destroyed.
Instead, the administration is pushing to open hundreds of thousands of acres of wolf habitat to clear-cut logging.
It's the wrong thing to do — and wolves will pay the price.
Tell Judge Woman Who Sawed Dog's Legs Off Should Be in Jail
Thousands of you were outraged and joined us in calling for justice when we shared the heartbreaking story of Buddy, a little dog whose back legs were sawed off. While Buddy's abusers won’t be serving jail time, we're asking the judge who presided over this case to follow up on the other penalties he handed down to ensure that they are enforced, and we are also asking that he reconsider sentencing in favor of stronger penalties in cases like this in the future. ACT NOW
Terrified Alpacas Are Pinned Down and Violently Restrained for Wool
You can hear from their screams how terrified they are. Alpacas are tied by their legs to inescapable wooden restraints, just so humans can steal their wool.
They’re given no ounce of consideration or comfort during the violent shearing they’re forced to endure.
Inside India's Wet Markets
PETA India gathered footage from live-animal and wildlife meat markets (aka "wet markets") in India, revealing dogs killed and sold for meat, chickens whose throats were slit by men with bare hands, bags of struggling crabs and eels, and charred remains of wild animals, including monkeys, wild boars, and porcupines. The novel coronavirus is widely believed to have first infected humans via wildlife at a wet market in China, and various deadly strains of bird flu have spread from Chinese wet markets. This footage shows that the next pandemic could begin in a live-animal market in India or anywhere else in the world.
Every year, the Animal Legal Defense Fund releases our U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report™.
No animal should suffer simply because of where they live, and no animal abuser should be able to walk away from their crimes because a state’s legal system fails to hold them accountable. Yet the strength of animal cruelty laws, and the enforcement of those laws, varies greatly state by state. That means even in cases of severe animal abuse, some animals may receive justice — but thousands of others never will.
With you beside us, we’ll continue our progress until animals in every state have the legal protections they deserve. Check out the report today and let’s build a better tomorrow for animals.
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.
ANIMAL RESCUES WELFARE, CRIMES & ABUSE
