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Get in the fight now to Flip control of the U.S. Senate with the Sustainable Action Network (SAN)!

  • Writer: Don Lichterman
    Don Lichterman
  • Apr 30, 2020
  • 8 min read

Shifting dynamics in the states of these right-wing Republicans have made their races more competitive. These stalwart Trump allies join our other top Republican targets: Susan Collins, Martha McSally, Cory Gardner, Joni Ernst, and Thom Tillis and they are just as deserving of getting voted out of office as our original top-tier targets.

If you've already given to PFAW's Take Back the Senate Fund, THANK YOU -- we wouldn't be asking again if it wasn't so important. And you know as well as anyone just how important it is that we flip the Senate...


Mitch McConnell's Republican Senate Majority has:

  • STOLEN a seat on the US Supreme Court for Donald Trump (remember Merrick Garland??)

  • JAM-PACKED our courts with extreme, biased, and unqualified Trump judicial nominees...

  • BLOCKED vital reforms to protect our elections and reduce government corruption...

  • OBSTRUCTED efforts to get to the truth about Russian election interference and hold Trump's team accountable for a growing list of lawless and corrupt acts...

A bit about our new targets:

GEORGIA: Both of Georgia's Republican U.S. Senators are up for election this year. David Perdue has been a loyal Trump enabler and Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to the seat following the previous incumbent's retirement, recently came under fire for shady stock sales which look like possible profiteering off of inside information she had about the coronavirus pandemic based on her position as senator.


MONTANA: Far-right Sen. Steve Daines has been an enthusiastic foot soldier in Trump and McConnell's assault on our federal courts and has been part of the Republican cover-up of Trump's misdeeds at every turn. The recent entry of popular Democratic Governor Steve Bullock in the Senate race has made this deep-red state race competitive!


Other top targets:

MAINE: Phony ‘moderate’ Susan Collins has built her political career claiming to be pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ equality, and pro-environment – she even now claims to be pro-health care – but she has provided what many consider to be decisive votes on dozens of unfit and extreme right-wing Trump judicial nominees (including Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh!).


All the abortion bans being passed in states across the country meant to provide the Far Right with their chance to overturn Roe v. Wade stem from the confirmations of Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh – and Collins’s difference-making support for those Trump nominees.


ARIZONA: Trump Republican Martha McSally -- who has been a consistent rubber stamp on Trump's awful judicial nominees – actually LOST her last bid for an Arizona U.S. Senate seat, but was appointed by the Republican governor to fill the seat left vacant by the death of John McCain.


McSally is now trailing Democrat Mark Kelly -- the former astronaut, husband of former-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and presumptive Democratic nominee for this seat -- in the polls!


COLORADO: Cory Gardner is considered by many to be the most vulnerable Republican up for reelection in 2020. He is trying to run as a moderate, but his staunch support for Trump’s policies, nominees, and corrupt efforts to undermine our democracy make his seat ripe for the taking – especially considering that Gardner only won his last election by fewer than 40,000 votes (just 2 percent).


IOWA: Trump Republican Joni Ernst, who ran for Senate as an extreme right-wing darling of the Tea Party, has supported Trump’s agenda of hate and division at every turn – despite being from a state that went for President Obama twice.


While Iowa’s support for Trump in 2016 and Ernst’s incumbency give her a natural advantage heading into the election, Democrats flipped two GOP-held congressional seats in Iowa in the midterms and Trump's approval ratings have tanked as his trade policies have put a pinch on farmers in the state.


NORTH CAROLINA: Thom Tillis is the Koch brothers' favorite senator. Along with other right-wing corporate Big Money powerhouses, they've invested heavily in Tillis since he was a state lawmaker. In the U.S. Senate, Tillis has joined his fellow Republican senators in marching in lockstep to advance the extreme Trump-McConnell agenda on the federal judiciary and in every other area. President Obama carried North Carolina in 2008 and the state is showing some positive trends for Democrats.

IMPORTANT: We’re also looking at potential Senate pickups in Georgia, Alaska, Montana, and KENTUCKY -- yes, that's right! Kentucky -- where Mitch McConnell's own race for re-election is shaping up to be competitive … and even though it's a longshot, Lindsey Graham is also up for reelection in South Carolina and there’s no reason we shouldn’t try to make his life difficult (and be in position to defeat him should the winds blow hard enough in the right direction).

We’ll be mobilizing the progressive vote in these states in so many ways, including new and innovative, data-driven, targeted approaches to reaching the key voters needed to win these elections.


We’re running ads, mailers, and more to reach Latino voters. We’re working to turn out young voters. And we’ll work to build an army of progressive volunteers to be the largest grassroots movement of active volunteers in any election in history.


But every voter conversation and communication costs money – whether they are happening through door-knocking, phone calls, text messages, letters and post cards, paid ads, or social media.


We’re excited to announce that we just endorsed another gun safety candidate running for U.S. Senate: Jaime Harrison in South Carolina!

Jaime Harrison’s commitment to commonsense gun safety is personal. He lost his friend Clem and 8 others when a white supremacist attacked Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015.


Jaime is up against Lindsey Graham who has spent years in the pocket of the NRA enacting their dangerous legislative agenda.


Lindsey Graham is one of the NRA’s biggest allies, and Jaime is running to flip his seat and send a clear message: it’s time for the Senate to step up and pass laws that will save lives.


2020 is the year that we can elect a gun safety majority in the Senate — we only need to flip three or four seats to do it. We’re doing our part to elect these candidates, but your support would go a long way.




This endorsement is crucial. The current Senate majority is doing everything within its power to prevent common sense gun legislation from becoming law.


Jaime has a tough road ahead. Lindsey Graham has the backing of powerful special interest groups and the gun lobby. We need Jaime in the Senate to stand with us in the fight against gun violence.


With your support, we can help Jaime flip this South Carolina Senate seat and be a champion in the fight against gun violence.

The following sponsored message from Jaime Harrison for U.S. Senate

Lindsey Graham broke his oath to be an impartial juror in Trump’s impeachment trial. He’s shown the world why he’s not fit to represent us in the U.S. Senate. So I need your help: Will you add your name to join my U.S. Senate campaign to DEFEAT Lindsey Graham?


My grandparents taught me that character counts. So when I make a promise or take an oath, I make sure that I keep it. But Lindsey Graham? He’s happy to break his oaths and abandon our best interests if it will keep the far-right happy. Unfortunately, Lindsey is already using impeachment to raise millions of dollars from his right-wing base. I know it’ll be tough, but with a lot of hard work and a little bit of hope, we can still win this Senate seat for the people of South Carolina. But I need everyone reading this to do their part.


We’re excited to announce that we just endorsed another gun safety candidate running for U.S. Senate: Lt. Colonel Amy McGrath in Kentucky!

Amy McGrath is a veteran and public servant who has spent her life protecting Americans. She’s running against Mitch McConnell — the NRA’s #1 ally in the Senate.


Mitch McConnell is responsible for blocking the bipartisan background check bill in the Senate. Amy is running to flip his seat and send a new, clear message: it’s time for the Senate to step up and pass laws that will save lives.


2020 is the year that we can elect a gun safety majority in the Senate — we only need to flip three or four seats to do it. We’re doing our part to get these candidates elected, but your support would go a long way.



This endorsement is crucial. Mitch McConnell will stop at nothing to prevent commonsense gun legislation from becoming law.


Amy has a tough road ahead. Mitch McConnell has the backing of powerful special interest groups and the gun lobby, but we know that more Americans will be safer if Amy McGrath wins this race.


With your help, we can help Amy win and send Mitch McConnell packing.

Amy McGrath: Thanks so much for joining the team that’s going to help me replace Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate.

Mitch McConnell has been Kentucky’s senator since I was 9 years old. During his more than three decades in office, he’s been an unabashed career politician—putting D.C. lobbyists, special-interest allies, and his own political career ahead of our country, our Constitution, and the needs of Kentuckians.


And along the way, he’s turned Washington into something we all despise.

I took a different path. I graduated from the Naval Academy, learned to fly fighter jets, and began a 20-year career in the Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel. I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, where I flew 89 combat missions and became the first woman in the Marine Corps to fly in an F/A-18 in combat. After retiring from the Marines, I’m ready to serve our country again.


If elected, I plan to bring back some basic values I learned as a Marine and a mom: Put people first. Accomplish the mission. Always put our country’s interests over politics, no matter what.


Our leaders need to learn to work together again. That’s what we do at our own kitchen table—my husband, Erik, a 20-year U.S. Navy veteran, is a lifelong Republican. The oaths we took were to our Constitution—not a political party.


As Kentucky’s next U.S. senator, I plan to be a leader who is ready to work with anyone to solve our problems, and ready to stand up to anyone who gets in the way—no matter their party.


Here’s the thing: we all know this is going to be a hard race. Mitch McConnell has over $7 million in the bank—and that doesn’t count the special interests ready to spend big to keep their guy in power. It took them 37 minutes to launch their first personal attack against me. And I know it’s only going to get worse.


I’m not afraid of Mitch McConnell and his deep-pocketed friends because we have proven that grassroots campaigns work. With you on my side, I know we can win this.



Defeat Mitch. Defend democracy.

Hindsight 2020: Episodes 1 through 5 is available NOW! Plus, a very special release of the Full Film of 'Lessons We Cannot Ignore from the BP Disaster' brought to you by Oceana!
Available at Roku, Amazon Fire TV and at Sunset TV this week!
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.


Activism and Sustainability:

  • Gun Safety & Gun Laws

  • Cruelty Free

  • Death Penalty

  • Demand Action

  • Sustainable Action Network

Fairness and Equality:

  • Grammy District Advocacy

  • 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




Big Cat Public Safety Act, Beijing, Chicago, Live Wildlife Markets, & Killing is not Conservation!

  • Writer: Don Lichterman
    Don Lichterman
  • Apr 30, 2020
  • 12 min read
Welcome to the Animal & Wildlife Welfare, Abuse & Crime Report brought to you by the Sustainable Action Network (SAN)!

Seven years ago, the landmark documentary Blackfish exposed the cruelty that captive orcas endure, forever changing the way that we view these animals. Now the director of Blackfish and other Hollywood actors are leveraging their power to protect big cats. There are more tigers living in cages in the United States than exist in all the wild. These tigers and other big cats languish in small cages in private homes and roadside zoos across the country—deprived of the ability to engage in any of their natural behaviors. It’s not only cruel—it’s a serious public safety risk. It’s time to crack down on this cruelty with the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which would prohibit the private possession of big cats like tigers and lions. It would also ban exhibitors like roadside zoos from allowing the public to interact with cubs in expensive “petting” and photo opportunities. Once these cubs grow up, they’re discarded—either sold into the wild “pet” trade, sent to other substandard facilities, or even killed for their body parts.  More than 25 celebrities are asking Congress to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act. But your voice is urgently needed. There’s power in numbers—join us in telling Congress to protect big cats today.

Lady Freethinker: Interior Secretary David Bernhardt

In what would be the largest single expansion in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s history, the Interior Department plans on opening 2.3 million acres of land to hunting and fishing across more than 100 national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries after the coronavirus pandemic slows down.


This unprecedented move would allow for the expanded hunting and fishing of migratory game birds, big game, and game fish. Under federal law, all national wildlife refuges – excluding Alaska – are closed to hunting and require the secretary of Interior to open them if such activity is seen as compatible with their purpose. Killing is not conservation.


The move could spell disaster for endangered species, who may be accidentally killed — or even poached, if USFWS fails to adequately monitor the land for illegal hunting practices.

“These beautiful places need to be protected for all wildlife, especially the endangered animals that rely on them for their survival,” said Randy Serraglio of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Right now, our focus should be on protecting these special places.”


With current COVID-19 and climate change concerns, environmental groups have criticized the government for not having their priorities in order.


“With all the pressures on wildlife from climate change and loss of habitat, additional hunting in refuges makes no sense,” said Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club. “It’s very wrong, and it’s especially wrong right now.”


These refuges and hatcheries were created to conserve wildlife and offer animal populations a place to recover uninhibited by people, guns and traps.


We need to stop live wildlife markets now

COVID-19 has changed everything: infecting and killing thousands across the globe, bringing economies to a standstill, and costing millions of American workers their jobs.


It will take a long time for us to recover from this outbreak, but we must act now to prevent the next one. The Humane Society Legislative Fund is leading the charge to end live wildlife markets and trade—a key driver of pandemic risk—and we need your help today.



This current pandemic is another example of how deadly the wildlife trade can be—disease outbreaks from multiple markets around the world have happened before where deadly diseases moved from animals to humans, endangering our lives then and now. In addition to the threat they pose to public health, live wildlife markets are incredibly cruel operations where sick, injured, and scared animals are displayed in small cages. Once purchased, they are often slaughtered on-site, creating a perfect breeding ground for transmission of disease from animals to humans.


A threat to public health anywhere is a threat to global health everywhere. Countries need to permanently ban the trade, transport and consumption of wild animals—or else an outbreak like this one is bound to happen again.


Emilio Jiang: Beijing bans residents from eating wild animals anywhere in the city in the wake of coronavirus outbreak

Beijing has forbidden its residents from consuming wild animals throughout the city in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Local officials passed a new law on Friday to impose severe punishment on people who hunt, trade and eat wildlife, which is believed to be the source of the COVID-19. China rolled out a temporary ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals across the country in late February. But the new legislation marks the first time that the capital city signed the policy into law.

Earlier this month, two other Chinese cities introduced new regulations to prevent residents from eating dogs and cats. Beijing has forbidden its residents from consuming wild animals across all regions of the city in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The picture above shows the cat-like mammals seized by officials at Xinyuan wildlife market in Guangzhou on January 5, 2004 The law, titled 'Beijing Wildlife Protection and Management Regulations', was passed by the legislative committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress on April 24. An older version of the regulations was introduced by the Beijing government in 1989. The officials decided to revise the wild animal protection law in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The new legislation will take effect from June 1.

The previous law listed over 500 types of terrestrial animals under the Beijing Wildlife Conservation Directory, Chinese media report. 

Under the new regulations, 'terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value' will be included, according to a government notice. Seventeen types of aquatic wild animals are also added to the list.

A proposal of the new law was first issued by China's top legislative committee in late February as the killer bug ravaged the country. But the regulations passed last week marks the first time that the capital city signed the temporary ban into law. Under the new regulations, 'terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value' will be included in the directive. People are pictured unloading a truck at a seafood market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on February 25 Consumption of the listed wildlife will be prohibited across the city of Beijing. Hunting, trading and transporting such wild animals with the purpose of consuming are also forbidden. A woman wearing a mask works in a seafood market in Guangzhou on February 25 Consumption of the listed wildlife will be prohibited across the city of Beijing. Hunting, trading and transporting such wild animals with the purpose of consuming are also forbidden.

Violators of the law can face fines up to 20 times the value of wild animals or their by-products. The regulations also specified that food service providers who breach the law will face harsher punishment.

The law will also restrict the breeding of wildlife by banning private breeders. Institutions and companies can only breed wild animals for scientific, medical and display purposes. The new rules have redefined the scope of protected wild animals and banned wildlife hunting in all regions in Beijing unless otherwise specified, Wang Rongmei, a lawmaker of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, told state media CGTN. It remains unclear if other cities in China will follow suit and enforce similar regulations. Two other Chinese cities have introduced regulations to prevent residents from eating pet meat earlier this month. The law will also restrict the breeding of wildlife by banning private breeders. Institutions and companies can only breed wild animals for scientific, medical and display purposes. The file photo taken on January 5, 2004, shows government workers collect civet cats in Xinyuan wildlife market to prevent a possible spread of SARS in Guangzhou city Authorities in Zhuhai issued the order in line with a government's proposal which lists dogs as 'companion animals', an official told state media. The file photo shows butchered dogs displayed for sale at a stall in Yulin on June 21, 2018

Zhuhai and Shenzhen, both in the southern province of Guangdong, will enforce the ban from May 1.

Authorities in Zhuhai issued the order in line with a government's proposal which lists dogs as 'companion animals', an official told state media.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has recently excluded dogs from farm animals in a drafted directive.

The authority said it recognizes dogs as 'companion animals' and 'not suitable' to be managed as livestock in the document released on April 8.

Only the animals officially listed as livestock or poultry can be bred, raised, traded and transported for commercial purposes in China, according to China's Animal Husbandry Law. This means the proposal can potentially prevent around 10 million dogs being killed for their meat every year in the country.

The annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival, held every year on the summer solstice, is one of the most controversial food festivals in China.

It sees thousands of dogs cruelly killed, skinned and cooked with blow-torches before being eaten by the locals.

The coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe is widely believed to start from a wildlife market in Wuhan, China. 

Although it remains unknown which animal transmitted the virus to humans, China has imposed a clampdown on its lucrative wildlife industry under control in a bid to prevent another outbreak.


New York City COVID-19 Pet Resources

All of us at NYCLASS hope that you and your loved ones, including your furry family members, are staying healthy and safe during this uncertain time. If you or a loved one are a New York City pet owner affected by COVID-19 and need assistance, call the NYC COVID-19 Pet Hotline at 1-877-204-8821, 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. Click here for more information and resources for pet owners from the Mayor's Office of Animal Welfare related to COVID-19 and pet care.

Chicago City Council BANS Horse Carriages in Vote Today!

We have tremendous news to share with you today: The Chicago City Council voted to BAN the operation of horse-drawn carriages in Chicago today during their live-streamed Council hearing. The ban passed by a vote of 46-4! The carriage horses must stop operating by the end of the year. Huge congratulations to Jodie Wiederkehr for all her tremendous work to make this animal rights victory happen through her group Chicago Alliance for Animals and her team of dedicated activists. We applaud Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly and Brian Hopkins who sponsored and championed Bill #SO2019-4125 and the entire Chicago City Council for making a compassionate vote for animals and for improved public safety in their City.


More and more cities around the country and world are making the decision to severely restrict or completely end cruel and dangerous horse-carriage rides on their streets. Our work continues in New York City to end carriage horse abuse on our own streets, where in just the past several months we have documented, reported and exposed numerous cases of carriage horse abuse, deaths, and law-breaking by carriage drivers, including the gut-wrenching collapse and death of carriage horse Aisha in February.


New York City's carriage horses are temporarily no longer operating due to the forced closure of non-essential business on March 22. As we reported, NYC horse-carriage drivers were still recklessly operating right up until the forced closure, and were shockingly handing out reused, shared blankets to passengers and violating social distancing protocols during the height of the pandemic, in spite of our calls to the City to shut them down.  Alec Baldwin wrote a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio on our behalf, urging him to shut down horse carriages to protect public safety.


Many of our supporters have asked us where the NYC carriage horses are right now since they are not able to operate due to coronavirus. We have been told that the horses are all on farms in Pennsylvania and other states temporarily while the shutdown continues. We will update you with more information as we get it.  Our priority is always to ensure the safety and well-being of the horses.

NYCLASS joined a citywide demonstration of NYC live-animal slaughter markets on April 21

NYCLASS was proud to join a citywide NYC demonstration (while maintaining social distancing) on Tuesday, April 21 calling for the closure of the more than 80 live-animal slaughter markets operating right now in the epicenter of the pandemic. Executive Director Edita Birnkrant and supporters were at a live-slaughter market in Queens, the borough hardest hit by COVID-19. We stood in unity alongside PETA, Slaughter Free NYC, Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund, Total Liberation New York, and Their Turn. These storefront slaughterhouses operate within densely populated neighborhoods and can be breeding grounds for infectious diseases and future pandemics. Birds, sheep, goats, and cows are crammed into cages and pens, often have their throats slit and are bled out, an agonizing death. Their existence poses a public safety risk to New Yorkers who live and work in these areas. 


New York Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, a longtime hero for animals, announced that she is proposing legislation that calls for the closure of live-animal slaughter markets in New York. "It's too great a danger to have these markets that have been shown through inspection records and hidden camera investigations to be filthy. It's not safe. It's not safe," Rosenthal said. "And in this COVID-19 period, we know diseases jump from animals to humans, especially when species are mixed and that is the state at a lot of these markets." 

Stay tuned for more updates and news on this legislation effort and how you can help!


Our hearts are with all of you during this difficult time, and our work at NYCLASS continues to protect animals from abuse and cruelty.

A years-long battle between a controversial southern Indiana roadside zoo and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ended in a victory for animal rights, as a judge revoked the zoo’s permit to exhibit warm-blooded animals, including two of the establishment’s main attractions, bears and big cats.


More than 120 violations — some dating as far back as 2012 — were considered in the lawsuit against Timothy Stark’s organization, Wildlife in Need. Stark was accused of providing inadequate care for sick and dying animals, falsifying documents, abusing and threatening government officials, and even killing several creatures.


Stark’s most egregious confirmed allegation came when he “euthanized” a leopard cub by beating the poor animal to death with a baseball bat. This isn’t the only tragedy to allegedly happen at Stark’s facility. The list of animals who needlessly died while in his care is extensive, according to USA Today. In 2013, for example, an ocelot was strangled to death in a “caging accident.” Days later, Stark allegedly administered Benadryl to a kangaroo for swollen feet instead of taking him to a veterinarian. Sadly, the poor creature died.


A veterinarian who testified on behalf of the USDA stated that Stark was a threat to the agency’s personnel, substantiating the complainant’s allegations that the defendant interfered with the zoo officials’ ability to carry out inspections on multiple occasions by “verbally abusing, harassing and threatening” them.


Stark, who represented himself after his lawyer recently withdrew from the case, was found guilty of violating the Animal Welfare Act. He has 35 days to appeal the decision and stated his intention to do so in a heated interview with WDRB, despite admitting that some of the allegations against him are true. In the meantime, he says he’ll continue running his zoo as usual.


Too often, captive big cats suffer at the hands of abusive or unqualified caretakers. More must be done to protect these innocent creatures. If you haven’t already, please sign LFT’s petition urging Congress to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

Support the Big Cat Public Safety Act in style with our latest shirts! Choose from two different designs available exclusively in the Animal Legal Defense Fund store. It’s an easy way to let the world know that you support keeping big cats safe!

There are few federal laws protecting the millions of wild animals living in captivity in the United States, some of whom are kept in private homes. The Big Cat Public Safety Act would ban the private possession of big cats—protecting animals like tigers and lions from cruelty and neglect.  


*Applicants with an outstanding commitment to animal law and a particular interest in anti-vivisection can apply for a scholarship for the Law & Ethics of Animal Testing course. 

Animal Law CLEs

Are you a member of a Bar Association Animal Law Section or Committee planning an online Animal Law CLE in the coming months? If so, don't forget to post the details on our calendar of events. We can help you get the word out!

Take Action, Responsibility & Wildlife...
"Corporations Are People 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.


Activism and Sustainability:

  • Gun Safety & Gun Laws

  • Cruelty Free

  • Death Penalty

  • Demand Action

  • Sustainable Action Network

Fairness and Equality:

  • Grammy District Advocacy

  • 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

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.


Paul McCartney, Nancy Pelosi, Alicia Silverstone, River Phoenix, Bill McKibben, TeachKind, Sunset TV

  • Writer: Don Lichterman
    Don Lichterman
  • Apr 30, 2020
  • 8 min read
Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 30, 2020
Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 29, 2020
Bill McKibben on Earth Day at 50: We Must Stop Subsidizing Fossil Fuel Industry Wrecking the Planet

April 22 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, when more than 20 million Americans joined in actions to protect the environment — 10% of the U.S. population at the time. Half a century later, in the middle of a pandemic, protests planned around the world have moved online, and the Trump administration has gutted the Environmental Protection Agency — established not long after Earth Day — rolled back fuel economy standards and eased the enforcement of pollution regulations. “The countries that flattened the coronavirus curve early on are doing far better than those like ours, which delayed,” says Bill McKibben, author, educator, environmentalist and co-founder of 350.org. “That’s a pretty perfect analog to the 30 years that we’ve wasted in the climate crisis.”

Why the COVID-19 crisis won't stop grassroots activists in Chile

Just months ago, the streets of Santiago were alive with a vibrant anti-austerity mass protest movement. Now, city streets are largely empty as citizens shelter in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But that won't stop those protesters from continuing to organize, according to Chilean climate activist Angela Valenzuela, who says that their concerns still have not been addressed and the COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated pre-existing problems. "This system of extreme neoliberal policies … is failing to protect people when a crisis like COVID-19 shows up," says Valenzuela. "Another way to fight is to stay home and take care of each other, strengthen our networks through online organizing, and have memories of what has happened in Chile in terms of the environment as well as human rights violations. We will not forget the people who have been murdered."

River Phoenix: Support PETA
Global Health Doctor: Hire 1000s of Contact Tracers to Stop COVID-19, Save Lives and the Economy

As parts of the United States and Europe consider reopening, most of the world’s population remains susceptible to the coronavirus. We look at new efforts to stop the deadly spread of COVID-19 with contact tracing — finding who infected patients have been in contact with so they can get tested and isolated. We’ll speak with global health expert Dr. Joia Mukherjee, with Partners in Health, about a contact tracing project she is working on now in Massachusetts.

TeachKind SynFrog Video Lesson

PETA’s Science Education Manager Samantha Suiter and her daughter, Elliot, team up to demonstrate how to use SynFrog™, a new hyper-realistic synthetic frog that can replace real frogs in classroom dissection.

How the anti-vax movement could undermine coronavirus vaccination efforts

As the death toll due to the coronavirus pandemic continues to climb, doctors and scientists around the world are working at a breakneck pace to expedite a possible vaccine for the virus. Infectious disease specialist and special pathogens expert Dr. Syra Madad says that even if a coronavirus vaccine is developed, she has concerns about obstacles that stand in the way of mass vaccination. In particular, she says, convincing people to take the vaccine may be a challenge, citing the anti-vaccination movement. "The anti-vax movement is vast," she says, calling it "one of the biggest global health problems that we have."

Alicia Silverstone and Her Son Talk About Animals, Paul McCartney, and Their Favorite Vegan Foods
New $484B Relief Bill Lacks Funds for Food Aid, Rent Relief, US Postal Service, Election Protection

As the House passes a new $484 Billion coronavirus relief bill, Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the sole Democrat to vote no, saying it falls far short, failing to protect those at greatest health risk, including essential frontline workers, and could let millions go hungry. We get response from The American Prospect’s David Dayen.

How Nancy Pelosi's "one-woman Congress" undercuts the progressive agenda

Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the sole Democrat to vote no on the House's new $484 billion relief bill, saying it falls far short of adequately protecting frontline workers and small businesses. David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect, says that Republicans mostly set the terms of the bill with acquiescence from more moderate Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "There's no real pressure on Nancy Pelosi. [She] has been a one-woman Congress for the last month or so," he says. Dayen hopes that with the next package, progressive lawmakers pressure Pelosi to "guarantee upfront" key items on the progressive agenda like rent relief, payroll support, and vote-by-mail in the upcoming elections.

“Unconscionable”: Planned Parenthood Pres. Condemns States Using Pandemic to Limit Abortion Access

As much of the U.S. remains on lockdown, abortion rights are under attack nationwide. We get an update on the fight for abortion access with Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “Our bodies have literally been deemed essential,” she says, “and yet the control of our bodies and the right to control our own bodies has not.”

“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”: New Film Follows Teenager’s Perilous Journey to Access Abortion

As multiple states have moved to further restrict access to abortions during the pandemic, a powerful new dramatic film follows a 17-year-old girl as she travels from her small town in Pennsylvania to New York City to get an abortion without having to notify her parents. “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” director and writer Eliza Hittman joins us to discuss the making of the film, which is being distributed online while cinemas remain closed in most states due to the pandemic.

Daniella Monet Thinks Dissection Is Wrong

Check out why Daniella Monet wouldn't dissect in school and her easy tips for ways that you can help save animals.

Better Things Director Pamela Adlon Must Be Stopped

Despite repeated asks from PETA to keep wild animals off her show, the "Better Things" co-creator continues to force them onto her set. A monkey, a snake, an owl, and a bear are just some of the animals she's dragged into potentially stressful situations, all for the sake of…comedy? Isn't that what writers are for? Animals are not props or punchlines for TV. Contact Adlon on Twitter and urge her to commit to never exploiting wild animals on "Better Things" or any other project moving forward:

In Her Own Words: Fiona Apple on New Album “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” & Acknowledging Indigenous Lands
Fiona Apple on "making people feel free" through music

Fiona Apple's new album "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" was released April 17 and has already become a massive hit, with music site Pitchfork giving the album a rare "perfect 10" review. The album was initially set for release in October, but Apple says she pushed it up on advice of her friend who told her, "People really need music now." Apple says she's glad that her music is connecting with people during the coronavirus pandemic and worldwide lockdowns. "I've heard that it's actually making people feel free and happy and it might be helping people feel alive or feel their anger or feel creative. And that's the best thing that I could hope for."

Trump Attacks Post Office While Carriers & Clerks Die from COVID-19

President Trump has lashed out at the U.S. Postal Service as the pandemic brings it to the brink of collapse and more people than ever are relying on the mail. Trump claims the agency is only losing money because it is undercharging Amazon and other companies for shipping. "It just isn't true," says American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein.

How to save the U.S. Postal Service, "the last holdout of true private communication"

Amid record-breaking bailouts for big corporations, the Trump administration has repeatedly blocked attempts to include the U.S. Postal Service in COVID-19 stimulus packages. President Trump bashed the USPS on Friday for alleged mismanagement and lost revenue. But Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, says Trump's remarks are part of his agenda to privatize the Postal Service. "They would like to sell the public Postal Service off to private corporations … [and] turn it into a profit-making entity," says Dimondstein, warning that giving private companies control over the mail would mean the death of "the last holdout of true private communication."

WHO Adviser on Meat Plants: If We’re at War, the Weapons We Need Are Tests and PPE, Not Pork

As President Trump invokes the Defense Production Act to bar local governments from closing meatpacking plants around the United States, we get a response from a longtime adviser to the World Health Organization. “When Congress passed that act, it certainly did not have in mind that the president has the power or the right to put workers’ lives and health at risk,” says Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health law at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Center on National and Global Health Law. Gostin also discusses why he joined 40 leading center directors in a declaration this week that urges Trump and Congress to restore and increase WHO funding.

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The Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know These Facts About Cashmere

Do you know the effects cashmere has on the environment? It's estimated that 70% of Mongolia’s grasslands have degraded largely because of the demand for it. Desertification like this can cause dust storms reaching all the way to the U.S.


Anyone who has ever felt or even thought of the pain of losing a loved one knows that there is nothing quite as excruciating. Every pet owner's nightmare is waking up and finding that his/her beloved one has been taken. Across Southeast Asia, this is a reality for millions of dogs and cats that get stolen and killed for the dog and cat meat trade. Please support our campaign against this horrible crime http://bit.ly/DogAndCatMeat


Students Learn How to Be Heroes for All Animals

PETA's mission statement is that animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way: https://www.peta.org/about-peta/


The website the meat industry doesn't want you to see: https://www.meat.org/






Blind kitten sits in a parking lot and wonders how will she survive in this world.

Luckily for Kenshi, Hope For Paws got a call about her, and things turned around quickly once JoAnn Wiltz and Katie McKittrick arrived.


I really hope this will help convince you to join us with a small donation: https://www.HopeForPaws.org Two days after the rescue, the mom, dad and the two siblings were captured too. The mom and dad never had human contact, so Loreta Hernandez and Jessica Holguin got them spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and released. They are fed daily, and they are happy. It is important to understand that there are THREE MILLION feral cats in Los Angeles and it's a real challenge. The best we can do is to try and get as many as possible fixed. Kitten season is almost here, and it's just a nightmare to be born to these conditions and I feel so sad for the ones we never hear about.


If you would like to see a longer version that includes the surgical procedure, you can see it here: https://rumble.com/user/HopeForPaws - it's not for everybody...the surgery shows the removal of the eyes, but it really brings you closer to the things they have to deal with.


Kenshi was adopted to the most amazing home - you just have to see this kitten with the dogs at the end! Kung Lao and Raiden are still looking for a home, and if you would like to adopt them, please contact our friends at: https://www.KittyBungalow.org Thanks for sharing our videos with your friends who LOVE cats :-) Eldad




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