- Don Lichterman
- Nov 14, 2019
- 7 min read
As a loyal Humane Society Legislative Fund supporter, we wanted to give you a sneak peek.
With the end of the first session of the 116th Congress fast approaching, we have posted a preview version of the 2019 Humane Scorecard. I hope you will check it out and see how your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative have performed so far in this Congress on animal protection issues.
If they did well, please thank them; if they have room for improvement, please let them know you’re paying attention, and that there is still time for them to do better before the final scorecard is wrapped up at the end of the year.
Building the number of cosponsors on a bill is an important way to show that there is a critical mass of bipartisan support for the policy—to help enact it quickly. And this is why your lawmakers need to hear from you.
Thanks for helping us move the ball forward for animals this past year.
With the help of supporters like you across the country, we can make sure we close out the first session of the 116th Congress on a high note for animals.
On an episode of the reality series "River of No Return," Ron Ens lashed out at a horse tethered to a wooden rail. He swung a hammer hard into the animal's body, and shockingly, the Discovery Channel put the incident on the air. PETA is calling on local authorities to investigate the attack and urging the network to pull the episode.
If you suspect animal abuse or neglect on the set of a film or TV show, let us know. You can confidentially report your account at PETA.org/Report!
KFC ignores suffering of millions of chickens
KFC, one of the largest fast food chains in the world, is allowing millions of chickens to suffer on factory farms. We are asking supporters to help us pressure the company to sign the Better Chicken Commitment and improve the welfare of chickens in their supply chain.
Chickens are the most intensively farmed land-animal on the planet. The scale of their suffering is staggering and must end now. Send an email to the fast food giant to help end the cruelty.
NYC bans the sale of foie gras On October 30, New York City celebrated a victory for ducks and geese after adopting a ban on the sale and provision of foie gras within the city limits. Over 50 nonprofit organizations, including World Animal Protection, as well as 81% of New York City voters banded together to pass the bill, which will now go to Mayor Bill de Blasio for signing.
Last week, the New York City Council passed a ban on selling foie gras (Intro 1378,) which is produced via the torturous force feeding of ducks and geese. Activists lined up outside City Hall for many hours and flooded inside to fill viewing areas as council members voted on the legislation. Representatives of the foie gras industry were too embarrassed to show and were conspicuously absent. READ MORE
Urge Prosecution of Repeat Dog Shooter & Investigation of Chief of Police
Can you imagine your neighbor shooting your fenced-in dog and then being lied to by your Chief of Police who ultimately did nothing to help? That's exactly what a family in the Village of Chataignier, Louisiana experienced when three of their beloved dogs were deliberately shot. We must urge the Louisiana District Attorney to prosecute the trigger-happy monster responsible for gunning down innocent family dogs and insist upon an investigation of the Chief of Police. ACT NOW
Demand End to Petco Betta Fish Killing
Every year, millions of betta fish are neglected and suffer in Petco retail stores. After enduring harrowing journeys from breeding facilities, many of them get sick and die slow, painful deaths. Please join us in urging Petco to stop the abuse of betta fish! ACT NOW
Join Our National Coalition to Stop Lethal Goose Roundups!
We're thrilled to announce our new initiative to protect geese nationwide! Geese are intelligent, family-oriented, sentient beings who often migrate long distances. Theyshould have the right to live their lives in peace. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a lethal wild animal killing branch, Wildlife Services, which is silently killing thousands of these majestic animals without consequence. Now, for the first time, advocates around the country will unite in their efforts to protect geese. If you want to help stop this mad killing program, please join us! READ MORE
Izzy, an 11-month-old service dog, was brutally bludgeoned in his Erie, Pa., home. The young chocolate lab mix’s snout was duct-taped together so that nobody could hear his desperate cries as his guardian struck him over and over with a broom and a hammer.
The puppy’s broken body and spirit could not be saved, and he was put down after authorities took him to an emergency vet.
“It was horrific. It was absolutely the worst thing I have ever seen in the 4 1/2 years I have worked in the animal industry,” Erie Humane Society Executive Director Nicole Bawol told YourErie news.
Justina Robinson called police to report the crime after supposedly returning home to find her puppy in this condition. However, after a few days of investigation, police arrested her, and she confessed to the beating. She purportedly beat Izzy so intensely that his skull cracked. Robinson is currently in custody with charges that include a felony for animal cruelty resulting in death.
It is imperative that the court treats this case with the severity it deserves to ensure that Robinson is never able to harm an animal again and to prevent other animals from meeting sweet Izzy’s sad fate.
Big cats are some of the most abused and neglected wild and endangered animals in the United States.
Roadside zoos and other exploitative businesses place tiger and lion cubs in face-to-face contact with people who are willing to pay for the experience — but once the cubs are too large to be handled, they are deemed useless, and sold off to other disreputable facilities or individuals that cannot provide the extensive care and space they need.
As a result, most big cats who arrive at sanctuaries exhibit severe physical and mental trauma due to the abuse and deprivation they have experienced. And sadly, many never make it that far; instead living out their lives in extreme neglect and abuse at the hands of someone only looking to turn a profit.
We need a legislative solution to stop the exploitation of big cats and cruel cub petting businesses. The bipartisan Big Cat Public Safety Act would prohibit anyone from keeping a big cat at a private residence and would also restrict cub petting to stop the rampant overbreeding and inhumane treatment of these wild animals. Please sign our petition to voice your support for this important piece of legislation!
These animals were TIED UP and forced to while other animals were killed in front of them. Every year, an estimated 2 million cows from India alone are bound, thrown onto trucks, and transported thousands of miles to Bangladesh to be slaughtered for leather.
Cows and goats are often illegally slaughtered for their skins on the streets of Bangladesh at night, and the animals are forced to watch others’ throats being cut with a knife. In official slaughterhouses, workers bind their legs and slit their throats—all while they’re still conscious. Every time you buy leather, you pay for these cruel practices to continue. Make your wardrobe kind with PETA’s vegan clothing guide: https://how-to-wear-vegan.peta.org/
On the 28th of October, an awards ceremony was held at the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre. The prizes were for a drawing competition to raise awareness about animal welfare issues and cruel animal festivals. There were lots of great entries and picking the winners was a challenging task for the judges.
Winner of our drawing competition Cam Anh Ng tells us a little bit about her work and gives us a tour of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre.
Double your donation for suffering animals during the limited match challenge An anonymous donor has promised to match every gift to World Animal Protection dollar-for-dollar! We're trying to reach the $30,000 matching goal - will you help us meet the Challenge for Animals?
The owner of a so-called “hell farm” near Bristol in England — where in 2015 the RSPCA discovered hundreds of dead and dying animals — has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and banned from ever keeping animals again, following a long court battle.
When the animal welfare officers visited Ingst Manor Farm, they not only discovered pigs, cows, goats, horses and sheep who had died through neglect and simply been left to rot, but also starved animals who were so hungry they were eating the carcasses of the dead.
Farm owner Susan Smith had not provided the animals with food or water, and many were stuck in thick mud and feces or left to slowly die on top of decomposing corpses. The survivors were visibly emaciated, with open sores and scabs, and infested with parasites.
In one of the worst cases of animal cruelty the RSPCA had ever found, and a “total animal welfare disaster,” 61-year-old Smith was eventually convicted of numerous individual charges including animal cruelty, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, neglect and not disposing of the bodies of dead animals.
Smith had originally been found guilty of 36 charges at a trial at Bristol Crown Court in June 2018, but she appealed the decision, citing ill health and a broken tractor, prolonging the legal battle which finally ended with Judge Euan Ambrose imposing the sentence.
“You showed a stubborn intransigence with which you have contested every single aspect of every single charge,” Ambrose told Smith when handing down the sentence.
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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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