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  • Writer's pictureDon Lichterman

Louis Vuitton, The Iditarod, Yulin Dog Meat Festival, Animal & Wildlife Crime, Cruelty & Welfare!

How Many Vegan Snacks Can YouTube Star GloZell Green Try in One Video?


This Iditarod Champion’s Story Will Break Your Heart

She limped and cried while circling on a short chain all day. This is how mushers treated a former Iditarod champion. Snickers and the dozens of other dogs left chained in the freezing cold need your help. https://investigations.peta.org/idita...


The handbags, shoes, and other accessories sold by Louis Vuitton can set consumers back large sums of money—but for animals, the cost is far greater.


On the hideous farms in Vietnam that have supplied animal skins to Louis Vuitton and others, thousands of crocodiles spend months packed into concrete pits or confined to enclosures narrower than the length of their bodies.


Their misery comes to an end with a violent, gruesome death: Workers at these farms electroshock crocodiles, then cut into their necks and ram metal rods down their spines, leaving the animals' bodies convulsing. Crocodilians can remain conscious for over an hour after their spinal cord has been severed and their blood vessels cut, so some endure excruciating pain as they slowly bleed to death.


At that point, workers cut and yank off the crocodiles' skin—a grisly process that can take up to 20 minutes for each animal. A PETA eyewitness at one facility found a victim of this cruelty still moving even after being skinned.


While some may turn a blind eye when reptiles suffer, PETA and our supporters never will. These complex animals of ancient species today depend on our help.


Please donate to PETA's "Save Our Skins" challenge right now. Every gift will support our campaigns to protect crocodiles and other animals from being abused for their skin, feathers, and fur.


PETA and our international affiliates have revealed immense cruelty on reptile farms on three continents—but alligators and crocodiles are far from the only victims of the global skins trade. From sheep and foxes to dogs and cats, animals are being imprisoned, tormented, and killed every day—and by selling items made with fur and reptiles' skins, companies like Louis Vuitton are paying for their suffering.


PETA is inspiring consumers to drop animal-derived materials from their closets and choose only cruelty-free clothing, and today, many retailers are embracing the compassionate fashion revolution that we helped start. Following an appeal from PETA U.K., Selfridges recently confirmed that it will become the first major British department-store chain to ban all exotic skins—joining top fashion houses and designers like Victoria Beckham, Chanel, and Vivienne Westwood that have made the same kind, business-savvy decision.



The Yulin Dog Meat Festival is fast approaching. We must put pressure on Chinese officials to enact effective changes in procedure and law enforcement to stop this horrific event from taking place once and for all.

The United States’ position on the dog and cat meat trade, and the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in particular, is clear and unequivocal: dogs and cats should not be killed for the consumption of their meat. In December 2018, the United States banned the dog and cat meat trade.  Inroads into the banning of this cruel and senseless commerce have also been made in parts Asia.

Taiwan recently took the monumental step of banning both the consumption of dog and cat meat and the overall trade in such meat.  Significantly, Taiwan is also home to an international alliance that is championing the push to ensure all Asian countries outlaw these senseless and cruel practices in the region. Indeed, Hanoi, Vietnam is also taking action, progressively banning the trade of dog and cat meat in its central districts.

Although these measures and efforts are important, we must continue to press China to stop the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. We proudly stand with the millions of people across the globe and in China, who wish to see this festival come to an end.  The Chinese government would be wise to join our efforts and institute a complete ban of the dog and cat meat trade.

The Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China dates back to 2009-2010, when it was launched by dog meat traders as a commercial enterprise to boost flagging sales. We find it completely outrageous that even though the Yulin city government withdrew as a sponsor of the Dog Meat Festival, Yulin authorities and the Chinese government failed to take any meaningful action to bring an end to this festival. The event celebrates the wholesale torture of dogs and is an abhorrent display of animal cruelty.

During this barbaric festival, dogs are burnt, skinned, or boiled alive, have their paws cleaved off while conscious, and are staked to the ground and beaten to death. No one can see these images and walk away unaffected. Based on the work of animal activist groups, the number of dogs slaughtered at the festival has be reduced, but still far too many are suffering barbaric torture and death. In fact, even with the decrease of dogs slaughtered at the Yulin festival, there are still about 10 million dogs killed annually in China for the dog meat trade.  It is absolutely shameful that this festival and others like it still continue.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank the countless activists who continue their tireless fight every single day in order to save and protect the voiceless and powerless animals across the globe. The Vanderpump Dog Foundation is on the ground 365 days a year with our two shelters and almost 500 dogs saved from the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. We see first hand the progress and are hopeful that we will be able to end the celebration of consuming our best friends. We must continue to shed light on the horrific treatment of the many animals that fall prey to China’s dog meat trade.

Our efforts transcend cultural differences, party lines, state borders, and political stances. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this cause must be everyone’s cause. With the might of the American government behind us, we can continue to put pressure on Chinese officials to enact much needed changes. Many humane courses of action are already available throughout China. With regular monitoring and enforcement, we hope that one day soon will finally see the elimination of the cruel Yulin Dog Meat Festival.


America's deadliest government program, Wildlife Services, just released its latest death tally. The 2018 totals are heartbreaking.

This rogue agency killed nearly 1.5 million native animals last year, among them 357 gray wolves, 338 black bears, 1,002 bobcats, 375 mountain lions, 3,349 foxes, 22,521 beavers and 68,186 coyotes — mostly at the behest of the agriculture industry.

For years the Center has been battling USDA's Wildlife Services, not just over how many millions of animals it obliterates but also for its cruel methods — including body-crushing traps, poison and aerial gunning.

County by county, state by state, we'll do whatever it takes to stop this ruthless bureaucracy. We've already shut Wildlife Services out of Shasta County, Calif., where 35,000 animals per year were being ruthlessly slaughtered. We helped secure a ban on the targeting of beavers, minks, muskrats and otters by Wildlife Services in Oregon, saving hundreds of animals a year. We shut down much of the killing of mountain lions and bears in Colorado.

And we've won in the courts to save ocelots in Arizona and Texas from being mercilessly caught in its bone-snapping snares and traps.

But there's still a long way to go, and we need your help.

The feds need to get out of the wildlife-slaughter business. There's no scientific basis for continuing to shoot, poison and strangle millions of wild creatures. Even pets and endangered species are being taken by mistake — so-called collateral damage.

Populations of wildlife are plummeting across the planet, putting us on the precipice of an extinction crisis that could kill off a million species.

We're becoming more alone on the Earth every day. We can't tolerate the purposeful, mass killing of wildlife.

Our government needs to end this appalling extermination regime. Please help today to our Stop Wildlife Services Fund.

"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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