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Merritt, Bait Dogs, Dog Fighting, Union County Sportsmens Club, Animals on Talk Shows & ALDF Webinar

  • Writer: Don Lichterman
    Don Lichterman
  • Aug 1, 2019
  • 5 min read

Updated: Aug 5, 2019

Irish Council Against Blood Sports ICABS, WLOS TV investigation about Burke County Animal Shelter in North Carolina in your Weekly Animal & Wildlife Welfare, Crime & Abuse Report! Every Thursday!


PETA's groundbreaking exposés and powerful campaigns are inspiring droves of designers, retailers, and consumers to reject fur, angora, mohair, leather, and every other material that's torn from an animal's back. And following our recent, first-of-its-kind look into the cashmere industry, we're decimating the market for that material.


PETA's exposé footage from cashmere-industry operations in China and Mongolia shows workers dragging goats by their legs, pinning them down, and ripping out their hair with sharp metal combs—leaving the terrified animals wounded and wailing.


They produce so little hair that six goats are tormented this way for a single cashmere sweater—but PETA and our international affiliates are determined to bring the number of suffering animals down to zero.


After learning of the cruelty inherent in cashmere production, H&M quickly committed to banning the only kind of cashmere it sells, and ASOS—which had banned the material last year after hearing from PETA U.K.—agreed to remove all remaining cashmere stock from its website. Since our exposé broke, the list of cashmere-free companies has expanded almost every day. Now, in a magical, precedent-setting victory for animals, Lochaven of Scotland—the original supplier of the Hogwarts uniforms worn in the Harry Potter movies—recently announced that it's banning cashmere, expanding its line of vegan clothing, and reducing the amount of wool that it uses in its knitwear. With your support, we look forward to seeing more cruelty vanish in the months ahead!


Thank you for helping us work toward a day when no animal suffers for clothing, costumes, or any other reason.


A female dog is recovering after someone tortured her, leaving her body ripped to bits, with bite marks and scars covering her legs, chest and head — her ears so lacerated they may be beyond repair.

In what they described as a “chilling scene,” animal control officers in Woodbridge, Connecticut found the canine so gravely injured, they believe someone used her as a bait dog in fights.


The poor dog, whom rescuers named Merritt after the street on which she was finally rescued, was also malnourished and weak from hunger. Merritt’s back leg sustained such terrible injuries that a veterinarian had to amputate the shattered limb in order to give the dog the best chance of a pain-free life.


A witness notified WAC of Merritt’s plight after they saw multiple cars hit the mastiff mix as she ran, terrified, across Merritt Parkway. The first SUV hit her in the shoulder. The second completely dislocated her rear left leg so badly, it was facing the other direction.


“Merritt could not wait to get in our crate once we arrived,” WAC said in a Facebook post. “It was if we could hear her sigh of relief that she was in a space where she thought she was safe. It was there that we realized the true horror that this poor girl had been living.”


We must speak out against this brutal animal cruelty and ensure that the person who caused Merritt — and possibly other dogs — such severe suffering is brought to justice.


In Ireland's cruel greyhound industry, 6,000 DOGS ARE KILLED EVERY YEAR because they're not fast enough to win. Irish Council Against Blood Sports ICABS...

Tell Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to Ban Greyhound Racing Tel: +353 (0)1-6194000 Email: leo.varadkar@oir.ie


Watch "RTE Investigates Greyhounds Running for Their Lives" to witness the horrors of greyhound racing in Ireland.



Please also sign and share these petitions

GAA: Stop club fundraisers at greyhound tracks https://www.change.org/p/gaa-stop-club-fundraisers-at-greyhound-tracks

In Millmont, PA, the Union County Sportsmen's Club confines animals to cramped, often filthy cages. An Asiatic black bear named Dillan is often rocking back and forth—a sign of extreme distress. He is morbidly obese and has severe dental disease that is painful and life threatening. Other animals are suffering at the club too. A raccoon was panting in the heat with no means to cool off, and birds had to drink out of an algae covered water trough.

Please tell the president of the club to allow PETA to facilitate the transfer of Dillan and ALL these animals to reputable facilities now. Visit PETA.org.


False Advertising: How to Protect Animals by Litigating for Consumers Webinar


When companies try to trick conscientious consumers into buying animal products, companion animals, or tickets to animal performances with the false promise that these products or services are humane or cruelty-free, legal advocates have a variety of tools at their disposal to stop this "humane-washing."

Stop Kitten Killing Shelter in North Carolina. Nationally, one in every five cats surrendered to a shelter does not make it out alive. However, the Burke County Animal Shelter in North Carolina kills at a rate of more than four of every five cats it takes in! It kills a shocking 87% of cats and kittens surrendered to its care. That figure is horrifying enough, but it gets worse. The Burke County shelter has been selling the bodies of the cats it kills for use in laboratories. Act now to reform this Frankenstein shelter and save cats and kittens from being sold off for body-parts.

In this webinar, Animal Legal Defense Fund Staff Attorney Kelsey Eberly will explain these tools and show how advocates can take away the market share for cruel products and services, protecting animals by holding companies accountable for their misrepresentations to consumers. 


These webinars are free and open to the public, but space is limited. A recording of each webinar will be made available after the session. 


Take Action, Responsibility & Wildlife...

"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.


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




The Sustainable Action Network (SAN) Endorsements, Horse Racing at Santa Ana & Del Mar, Ziggy Marley

  • Writer: Don Lichterman
    Don Lichterman
  • Jul 31, 2019
  • 7 min read

The Sustainable Action Network (SAN) Endorsements…

I am proud to join the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to officially endorse Elizabeth Warren for president.


I have backed her for years now anyway and though she is by far the best to become a great POTUS, even if she lands the VEEP nod, she will be a vital part to that ticket.


Also, she’s rising in the polls, introducing plan after plan, and showing that progressive ideas are popular! We’re now working to help state and local elected officials and Democratic Party leaders who want to endorse her. Together we’re organizing events and making a media splash. Want to get on board? Click here to sign up!


Mid-Year Special Election Winners Report

Congratulations to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) endorsed state and local candidates who won their recent elections, including Ali Brown, a champion for mass transit who won her primary for Indianapolis City Council; Debbie Ortega, an affordable housing activist who won re-election to Denver City Council; Corryn Kronnagel, who won her primary for Magisterial District Judge in Morrisville, Pennsylvania; Lloyd Snook, who has successfully argued death penalty cases before the Supreme Court, won his primary for City Council in Charlottesville, Virginia; and Angela Riley, a community advocate, won her primary for City Council in Binghamton, New York. We also want to give a special shout to our endorsed candidates Yasmine Taeb, who came very close to winning a strong primary challenge to a conservative Democratic incumbent in a Virginia state senate race, and to Tiffany Caban, whose transformative race for Queens district attorney is still too close to call.


Remember that if you want to join our winners list, you need to fill out our endorsement questionnaire! Click here if you are running for local office, click here if you are running for state office, and click here if you are running for federal office.


Report from Charlotte…

We had a terrific time training candidates in June in Charlotte, North Carolina. The training took place in Catawba Brewery, a beautiful local venue. We had a diverse group of 85 candidates attend (61% people of color and 65% women--both record highs!). They included candidates running for state legislature, city council, school board, and even Congress. We also had candidates from other states in the region, like Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia. As Vickie Holt, running for state senate in South Carolina, said, "The speakers were so well-prepared and made their presentations with enthusiasm and obvious knowledge on their topics. I also really enjoyed the interaction encouraged throughout the training…I spent time with powerful, determined progressives who are ‘in it to win it’!” Janet Dudding, running for State House in Texas, said, "I have gone to a lot of candidate trainings to get ready for my first-ever run for office. The PCCC training is the best I have ever attended. I received more details on how to message, fundraise, pivot, research- all aspects I had never heard about before the training. I highly recommend it." We also trained 48 candidates in Concord, New Hampshire in May in partnership with Lead NH. We’re now preparing for our next training in Orlando, FL from July 27-28. If you want to apply, click here. If you want to nominate rising progressive stars, please click here.


Recent polling on Pharma…

You may be interested in our recent polling on prescription drugs. We polled three swing-to-red House districts in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, and the results were shocking (in a good way). We found overwhelming bipartisan support for Medicare drug price negotiation. We even found overwhelming support for the idea that the government should break monopolies on drugs so that other companies can manufacture generic alternatives. (In South Carolina, 71% of Trump voters agreed with this idea!) Check out the results in this editorial that I co-authored with Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works.

Stop Horse Racing and The Deaths at The Racetrack

Its noted that between 600 and 800 horses are either injured or killed yearly within the industry. This practice has been able for years and years and nothing has changed except one thing. Innocent horses are dying.


Horse racing in just Santa Anita alone has killed over 30 horses within close proximity THIS YEAR.


Continuing to allow this awful sport is basically premeditated murder of these animals with no voice.


Horses are gentle giants who deserve better lives than to be overworked and raced only to die to broken bones, minor injuries that can be cured, and more that are undisclosed and covered up.


No one can deny that 30 horses have died and that is 30 too many. A famous trainer has been banned after the 30th death, but that isn't enough. I am standing to be the voice of these beautiful animals who do not deserve such a life.


Help us end the suffering and deaths of these creatures. Horses have given us work, companions and love for years and years to come, and now we use them for money, entertainment and gambling.


Adults bet on which horse crosses first, while some of their opponents crash to the ground before finishing.




Just since Christmas, 31 racehorses, including former Breeders’ Cup winner Battle of Midway, have died at California’s world-famous Santa Anita Park.


Still, what’s happening there is no anomaly. Over the past 11 years, Santa Anita has averaged 50 dead racehorses annually; every 12-month period but one (when “only” 37 died) saw at least 40 corpses. What’s more, Santa Anita can’t even claim it’s heading in the right direction as two of the three worst years were ‘15-’16 and ‘16-’17.


Sign and share today to urge Santa Anita to stop the senseless death of racehorses by closing down its track.


Nationally, through our seminal FOIA reporting, Horseracing Wrongs has documented over 5,000 confirmed kills on U.S. tracks just since 2014; we estimate that over 2,000 horses are killed racing or training across America every year. Over 2,000. Imagine that. But there's more: Each year, hundreds more die back in their stalls from things like colic and laminitis, or are simply "found dead" in the morning. And perhaps worst of all, the vast majority of has-been (or never-were) equine "athletes" are brutally and violently bled-out and butchered at Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses - some 12,000-15,000 Thoroughbreds alone each year. In short, the American horseracing industry is engaged in wholesale carnage - not hyperbole, carnage.



More horses will die if Santa Anita is not closed down. Sign today to tell the owners to save lives by immediately shutting down the track.

Ziggy Marley: Say No to Abused Horses and Cancel Your Performance at Del Mar Racetrack

Ziggy Marley is scheduled to perform during the kickoff weekend for Del Mar Racetrack’s summer meet.


Earlier this year, Del Mar’s sister track, Santa Anita Park, garnered unwanted national attention with a string of 29 racehorse deaths. But what most people don’t know is that death at the track is, in fact, business as usual: Santa Anita has averaged 50 dead horses annually over the past decade. At Del Mar, 73 horses have been killed in just the past five seasons. At all California tracks, over 5,000 deaths since 1998.


Nationally, through our unprecedented FOIA reporting, Horseracing Wrongs has documented over 5,000 kills on U.S. tracks just since 2014; we estimate that over 2,000 horses are killed racing or training across America every year. Over 2,000. Imagine that. But it’s even worse: hundreds more die back in their stalls from things like colic and laminitis. And perhaps worst of all, the vast majority of has-been (or never-were) equine "athletes" are brutally and violently slaughtered once their so-called careers have come to an end - 15,000 Thoroughbreds alone each year. Taken together, it is no exaggeration to say that the American horse racing industry is engaged in wholesale carnage. Again, not hyperbole, carnage.


But the killing is only a part of the story. There is, too, the unremitting confinement and isolation - the typical racehorse is kept locked - alone - in a tiny 12x12 stall for over 23 hours a day; the absolute control and utter subjugation - lip tattoos, nose chains, mouth bits, and whips; the commodification - racehorses are literal chattel, things to be bought, sold, traded, and dumped whenever and however their people decide; the negation - all the horse’s natural instincts and desires are thwarted, creating an almost unfathomable suffering in these innately intelligent, sensitive creatures.


Ziggy Marley, you are an iconic musician, and an activist who fights for love, peace, equality, and justice. We are humbly and respectfully asking that your compassion be extended to these beautiful animals. Be the first to do for racehorses what the SeaWorld boycotts did for orcas, and in the process, become a model for all others to follow. Please, Ziggy, cancel your performance at Del Mar Racetrack.

"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 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.


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




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