Animal Cruelty & Animal Crime to Report This Week!

How is This Allowed? Man Escapes Jail Time After Being Charged With Animal Cruelty THREE Times.

Earlier this week, a man stood before a Michigan court awaiting the charges for a case of animal cruelty. Kelvin Thomas of Oshtemo Township, Michigan went to court because police caught him training fighting dogs in his home. But when the time came for the judge to deliver his sentence, he learned that he would be let off with five years probation, an $8,000 fine. He would not be allowed to own any animals for five years — a mere slap on the wrist, considering that this was Thomas’s third time facing charges for animal cruelty. When all 50 states have animal cruelty laws that include felony provisions and the FBI requires all cases of animal abuse to be reported through a national database, how did this happen?

Sadly, just because animal cruelty laws have felony provisions does not mean that an offender will go to jail. In Thomas’s case, the prosecuting attorney convinced him to plead “no contest,” meaning he would concede to the charge of animal cruelty without admitting guilt, thus avoiding jail time.

This is all in spite of the fact that Thomas has gone to court a total of three times for charges of animal cruelty! Nearly a year ago, Thomas had ten dogs removed from his home after being accused of training fighting dogs. In 2013, he faced similar charges resulting in 30 dogs being removed from his home and he also faced similar charges in 1993. According to WWMT, Judge Gary Giguere, who oversaw the case, told Thomas in court “If you and the prosecutor had not made this agreement binding on the court, you’d be going to jail for a long time right now.”

The fact that Thomas was able to avoid jail time, in spite of multiple instances of having dogs taken away from him, is an absolute miscarriage of justice. He may have to pay a hefty fine and live the next five years under the scrutiny of law enforcement, but has a lesson been learned? Thomas’s repeat offender history is a clear indication that no criminal charge will likely ever deter him from forcing innocent dogs to fight for profit. If animal cruelty has felony provisions, then where is the justice for the dogs he has abused over the years and most likely, five years from now when he’s allowed to own animals?

Please keep in mind that if you ever suspect animal cruelty, law enforcement recommends that you do not take matters into your own hands. To learn more about what you can do if you suspect an animal of being abused, read the following articles:
America’s public lands should be a safe haven for wolves, lions, bears, and other native wildlife providing these majestic animals with the freedom to roam. Ban Cruel Traps, Poisons, Gunning, and Snares.

But they’re not. Instead a federal agency that has existed for nearly a century uses barbaric methods—like leg-hold traps, poisons, and aerial gunning. These methods not only kill millions of their intended targets each year but they also harm unintended victims including people, pets, and endangered wildlife.

We aim to change that by nurturing an ethic of compassionate coexistence everywhere and especially on America’s public lands.

In support of this campaign, this week we launched a new website to End the War on Wildlife. Check out our new website here along with our new video, and share both with your friends. We must demand our public lands, which belong to all of us, be safe havens where coyotes and other wildlife can raise families and people can visit safely with theirs.

Help us protect wildlife and endangered species by visiting our new website and spreading the word about actions at the local, state, and federal levels that would ban traps, snares, poisons, and barbaric killing contests. 
eWoW meme 1
Animal Asia's response: Shut down the Bandung Zoo now!

“ I am afraid that it is highly unlikely that we could ever get these bears out of Indonesia.

Unfortunately a similar situation exists at Surabaya Zoo with bears (off-exhibit) stuck in tiny cages for many years - we have tried to get the authorities to remove these bears and place them at a sanctuary but without any luck.

I am afraid that I do not hold out any hope for these bears to leave the zoo.
Sick puppy: Man in China livestreams himself brutally dissecting puppy

Boycott "A Dog's Purpose" Unless Creators Donate to Humane Causes! 
You may have already seen the footage. I had trouble watching it. On the set of the new film "A Dog's Purpose," a man is holding a terrified German Shepherd above a pool of churning water. After the struggling pup is finally forced into the water, the man pulls him out by his collar.

Please sign this petition to pledge to boycott "A Dog's Purpose" unless the creators make a significant donation to animal welfare organizations!

Perhaps even more disturbing, the dog is seen later in the video struggling to stay above water, and eventually going under. The team rushes in to get the dog out as someone yells "cut it!"

The director of the film has said he is "disturbed" by the footage, but that is not enough. If this film is meant to be a heartfelt story about dogs, the creators must put their money where their mouths are.

Demand the creators of this film donate a sizable amount to an animal charity. Sign the pledge to boycott the film if they don't.

Save these starving sun bears from this hellish zoo! 
Sun bears are the smallest, most endangered, and least studied of all the bear species. But we know they shouldn't be starved and kept in filthy, overcrowded enclosures.

A viral video has documented the horrible treatment of sun bears in Indonesia's Bandung Zoo. Will you sign the Care2 petition to save the bears?

Care2 super activist Poh Yee Holmes was outraged when she saw the video of the clearly emaciated bears. Four sun bears are living in a small, muddy enclosure, begging tourists to feed them. One bear repetitively sways side to side, while another reportedly eats its own feces.

These bears are in a horrible situation.

The sun bears are only the latest victims of this despicable zoo. Yani, an endangered Sumatran elephant died crying last year, bruised and shackled in chains. In 2014, a giraffe died suddenly and was found to have 40 lbs of plastic trash in its stomach.

The zoo's only veterinarian reportedly resigned over a year ago.

It's time for Indonesian officials to shut down this zoo and send its animals to legitimate sanctuaries. Poh Yee has even located a sanctuary in Colorado that is able to care for the sun bears!

Sign Poh Yee's petition and demand President Widodo and Environment Minister Bakar take action for these animals.

To make your signature even more powerful, pledge to avoid Indonesia for any future travel plans until this zoo is shut down by adding a comment on the petition.

International visitors drive a huge part of Indonesia's economy, so if we show the country's leaders this zoo is opposed around the globe, we will see action for these animals.


Dog’s ears cut off: Men arrested for slicing ears off reported dog-fighting dog

Ann Arbor Will Spend $150,000+ To Cull 180 Deer in City Parks. Ann Arbor Will Spend $150,000+ To Cull 180 Deer in City Parks - WA2S Films is Watching, - Are You? Donate to send us on our next mission: http://www.WA2S.org/donate
Filmed on January 21, 2017 as part of aerial survey work being done to independently quantify the number of deer in Ann Arbor. 2 more surveys will be completed prior to January 15, 2018.

Nonlethal Sterilization Program
From January 22 through January 29, two areas in Wards 1 and 2 will have deer sterilization activities performed every day from 3 p.m. to 5 a.m. by a city contractor, White Buffalo. These areas were selected where sharpshooting of deer cannot occur, but darting and surgical sterilization of deer can take place per a special state permit. It is unlikely that residents will notice the actual darting activities because, while some darting will occur at designated bait stations in the late afternoon (after 3 p.m.), most work will be done during nighttime hours, when deer are most active (and people are not).

Lethal Program
The White Buffalo contract also includes sharpshooters lethally removing up to 100 deer in designated City of Ann Arbor parks and natural areas in Wards 1 and 2 after the sterilization program is completed. From January 30 through February 13, 2017 the below parks will be closed every day (including weekends) for all purposes from 3 p.m. to midnight.


Exterminated: Secret killing program exposed. They say that the best disinfectant for corruption is sunlight.
That’s why we’re putting a massive spotlight on a corrupt federal agency named Wildlife Services that’s used billions of taxpayer dollars to slaughter animals such as wolves, coyotes, and bears. And without any scientific or ethical foundation!

What’s worse is the agency hides in the dark regularly declining interviews, congressional inquiries and requests for public records. They only provide the number of animals killed per year, but never the reasons why.

I’ve had enough of the bloodshed and the secrets. 

That’s why earlier this week we launched a new website to help End the War on Wildlife. Check out our new website here along with our new video, and share both with your friends.

Join us in demanding that our tax dollars not be used to fund an endless, ineffective and unethical war against our nation’s wildlife. Help us create a new ethic of compassionate coexistence with wolves, coyotes, bears, otters, beavers and other wildlife.

Help us spread the word and expose the agency and prohibit the use of our tax dollars to kill wildlife on our public lands.  We need you to spread the word and expose the agency to win at the local, state and national level to ban the killing, trapping, poisoning and snaring of wildlife.

They say that the best disinfectant for corruption is sunlight. 

It’s time to ban dog auctions 
Petitioning Missouri Governor, Missouri State House, Missouri State Senate, Claire McCaskill 
Missouri is the top state in the nation for puppy mills in 2016 according to the Humane Society of the United States. 30 of the worst 100 puppy mills in the country call Missouri home -- some of whom are repeat offenders.
These puppy mills continue to produce dogs, although over 3,200 dogs are euthanized every day, according to the ASPCA. Why do puppy mills keep producing so many puppies?
Dog auctions make it possible for puppy mill operators to quickly sell as much of their “inventory” as possible. They create a financial incentive to overproduce puppies for pet stores and online vendors across the country.
Here’s a recent example. An infamous Missouri breeder, who owns pet stores in New Jersey, was recently allowed to auction all of the animals held in his Missouri kennel after he was charged with 267 counts of animal abuse by the New Jersey SPCA. No one inspected the dogs sold at the auction for signs of abuse or illness. This lack of accountability is shameful and unacceptable. But it will continue as long as long as a financial incentive exists.
Help us fight puppy mills by eliminating a key financial incentive -- the dog auction. Take the first step by signing this petition today urging our lawmakers to ban dog auctions now.

Cherry is such a lucky hen. Thrown out onto the street shortly after hatching, she would have died had a caring person not rescued her and helped her get the veterinary attention she desperately needed. Named after her favourite food, she was recently the guest at a PETA Asia party in Beijing to celebrate compassion for all animals during this Year of the Chicken.
Helping animals, supporting the whole community
Today, this friendly, 2-year-old hen enjoys a peaceful life with other rescued animals at a spacious home, but her story is a rare exception.

Most of the sensitive little birds born into the meat industry this year will be transported to an abattoir before they're 2 months old. Hundreds of millions of male chicks on egg industry farms will be suffocated or gassed by an industry that considers them useless – simply because they can't lay eggs.

Yes, I Want to Help! 
Please help chickens like Cherry – and strengthen PETA's work to stop the suffering of all other animals – by making a special gift today.

Chickens are social, smart birds who enjoy spending their days together scratching for food, taking dust baths, roosting in trees, and lying in the sun. They have complex social structures, well-developed communication skills, and distinct personalities.

But to the meat and egg industries, these wonderful animals are little more than commodities to be bred, abused, and violently killed. Exposés by PETA Asia, PETA US, and PETA Germany have revealed hours-old chicks – some too weak to stand – deprived of all warmth and comfort. Most of these unwanted chicks were killed by being tossed into a giant metal macerator and ground up alive.

The tips of the beaks of those who aren't killed outright are often seared off with a hot wire or cut off, and sometimes the machine cuts so deeply that it leaves them unable to eat. Genetically manipulated and dosed with antibiotics, many will spend their lives inside squalid sheds crowded with thousands of other birds. After enduring six weeks in these hideous conditions, chickens raised for meat are roughly thrown into cages and shipped to abattoirs, where they will be killed and dismembered for their flesh.
Yes, I Want to Help!
Your generous gift this Chinese New Year will help power our work for chickens and all other animals throughout the year to come.

Through headline-grabbing campaigns and powerful exposés – like our recent look at the sickening cruelty of "high-welfare" farms that supply Marks & Spencer – PETA is challenging the misery that the egg, meat, and dairy industries keep hidden from the public. Millions have watched our videos and those of our international affiliates, learning of the horrors that sensitive animals are enduring every single day, and our popular vegan starter kit has helped many of them make the transition to healthy and humane vegan eating.

Please start this Year of the Chicken compassionately by making a special donation to PETA today.