Brian May, George and Thomas Grant plead guilty, Safari World and Pata Zoo, Phuket Zoo, Phuket Safari Eco+ Park, Petland, Slaughterhouse in Cambodia, Emanuel Exports, Puppy Mills, Mass Slaughter of Alaskan Wolves & Yummy...Horse Meat!
Justice for assaulted investigators
In 2016 two League Against Cruel Sports investigators were brutally attacked while monitoring the Belvoir Hunt. One of the investigators, Darryl Cunnington, a former policeman, was treated for broken neck vertebrae after the incident.
Yesterday afternoon, George Grant, the Belvoir Hunt terrier man, and his son Thomas Grant, pleaded guilty to charges of grievous bodily harm on investigator Darryl Cunnington, actual bodily harm on investigator Roger Swaine, theft of a video camera and criminal damage of a memory card. Sentencing has been adjourned until June 14.
The attack took place on March 12th 2016 close to the village of Stathern in Leicestershire and involved the two convicted men and four unidentified masked men who punched and then pushed the investigators off a 14 foot escarpment before escaping with one of the investigator’s cameras.
Darryl Cunnington, League Against Cruel Sports Head of Field Operations, said: ““Hopefully this will send out a message to all hunts that they cannot carry out assaults on people who wish to monitor their activities.
“If they are operating within the law as they claim, then they have nothing to hide.
“By attacking monitors and stealing camera equipment they have shown they fear their hunting activities being recorded, and the possibility of prosecution.
“l am very lucky that the assault has left me with no long-term serious injuries. After falling fourteen feet, finding myself unable to move, I feared I was paralysed. The offenders showed no remorse and left us injured. The fact they refused to cooperate with the police shows no remorse or concern.”
Roger Swain, League Against Cruel Investigators Field Operator who was also assaulted, said: “I’m delighted by the result today. The Investigations team have a policy of non-interference and we are there purely to record any hunting or other cruelty offences. We were filming the Belvoir Hunt from a public bridleway from a distance of 1km. This violent response by an employee of the Hunt and five others was unprovoked and a complete overreaction.
“My colleague Darryl Cunnington was lucky not to have been killed. This conviction sends a powerful message to hunts up and down the country that you cannot simply attack anyone in the vicinity who happens to have a camera or who may disagree with your activities.”
The Belvoir Hunt was recently caught up in another scandal when a gamekeeper was convicted for keeping a fox in cruel conditions in a disused outbuilding, which the League believes was being held to be chased and killed by the hunt.
This verdict only continues to highlight the which side of the law those who hunt and those who investigate operate on, and proves the value of the League’s outstanding investigations.
I hope you will join us in welcoming this verdict, and if you can, please help to support our ongoing investigations work.
Island officials confirmed that Phuket Zoo is under instructions to improve conditions for animals — most notably for the apes and monkeys — housed there.
The news follows award-winning Brit photographer Aaron Gekoski, 37, reporting on horror conditions at Safari World and Pata Zoo in Bangkok, as well as Phuket Zoo, through a report posted in several news outlets.
The report noted despairing conditions for animals and blasted Safari World in Bangkok for forcing orangutans to perform shows to entertain tourists, including having the apes perform a fake boxing match with female orangutans wearing skimpy bikinis and posing as “ring girls.”
Piyawat Sukon, Chief of the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Thaew Conservation Center in Thalang, confirmed yesterday that Phuket Zoo is already under orders to improve conditions for apes and monkeys kept there – if it wants to keep its license as a public zoo.
The Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Office is the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) office responsible for the welfare of wildlife animals in Phuket and neighboring provinces.
Piyawat pointed out that Phuket Zoo was instructed to improve conditions for animals during an inspection about three months ago by a committee of the Zoological Park Organization (ZPO), which is the ultimate authority in Thailand for issuing permits for venues to operate as public zoos.
Without the ZPO’s consent, zoo licences are not approved.
“I joined an inspection of Phuket Zoo conducted by a ZPO committee about three months ago. I saw that some parts of Phuket Zoo were kept very well, such as the elephant section, and were approved,” Piyawat said.
“But other areas, such as the sections where apes and monkeys are kept, were not good and needed to improved.”
Piyawat explained that the inspection was “special” in that it was conducted in response to Phuket Zoo applying to renew its license to operate as a public zoo.
If the ape and monkey areas are not improved, the ZPO will be unlikely to renew Phuket Zoo’s license, he said.
Meanwhile, Paisal Sukhapunnapun, of the Phuket Fisheries Office, has confirmed that a crocodile pictured trapped in a tiny enclosure in the report is not “Leypang,” the mixed-breed crocodile captured on Phuket’s west coast in August of last year.
Paisal was tasked with ensuring the care of “Leypang” and making sure that the croc’s new home is appropriate. After much debate, Leypang was handed over to Phuket Zoo to keep in good health.
“I can confirm that the crocodile in the photo is not Leypang. The enclosure at Phuket Zoo created especially for Leypang is much bigger than this,” Paisal said.
“Last month, I went to check on Leypang. I can confirm that Leypang is healthy and eating well,” Paisal said.
“Leypang is very much in the people’s interest, so Phuket Zoo can’t ignore making sure the shelter is appropriate,” he noted.
‘I will return to check in on Leypang from time to time to make sure he is being kept well, though right now I cannot confirm the exact date of my next visit,” Paisal said.
Pichai Sakunsorn, of Phuket Zoo Co. Ltd., declined to comment in detail on the conditions animals at the zoo are kept in.
Instead, he insisted that Phuket Zoo is “in the process of improving conditions” for animals kept there. Pichai declined to provide any photos of the animals’ housing conditions at the zoo today.
“I don’t like this news, which affects Thailand, and especially Phuket as a tourism attraction, with Phuket Zoo being the focus,” Pichai said.
“Whatever we do always results in negative feedback for us. Phuket Zoo is not supported by the government. We have to run it by ourselves and provide our own budget to fix and run the zoo. It needs time,” he said.
“I don’t want to go into this in more detail. Just talking about this topic is enough for today,” he added.
Phuket Zoo last made international headlines in the despairing case of “Milo the Orangutan,” dangerously overweight through poor diet and lack of exercise and kept in a cage under a stage at the zoo, being dumped into the wild in central Phuket amid fears that Milo had been illegally obtained.
Although finally taken into protective care after being held at Phuket Zoo for two years, Milo died just weeks later.
Whether or not Milo was legally acquired was never made clear. However, officials were proud to announce that two other baby orangutans discovered at Phuket Zoo during an inspection resulting from the Milo fiasco were legally acquired – from Safari World in Bangkok.
This Cruel Safari Park Is Torturing Monkeys. The macaque monkeys of Phuket Safari Eco+ Park in Thailand might look like they are having the time of their lives. They get to ride tricycles, listen and dance to music, and when they want to wind down, they can have a bit of a workout.
But if you haven't guessed already, they are doing none of these things by choice.
When the tourists arrive, the music starts and the macaques enter the pavilion with metal chains around their necks along with their trainers. With a quick yank of the chain, the monkeys start to perform and any pretense of fun completely disappears. Any astute animal lover can tell that these animals are suffering.
The monkeys have a tight schedule and they are forced to perform throughout the day, but when they do get a "break," they are stuffed in tiny metal cages backstage. The cages have no food or water, and they are left to sit in boredom until their next show.
But the macaques aren't the only animals suffering at the park. Phuket Safari also has mature and baby elephants, snakes, sheep and other domesticated animals that they force to perform at the whim of paying clientele.
Parks like Phuket Safari are technically illegal. In 2014 the Thai government passed its first ever animal welfare law but it is rarely enforced. If the government doesn't work to shut down these horrible facilities, animals will continue to suffer and Thailand will continue to be known as a country that turns the other way when it comes to animal cruelty.
Tell Thailand to enforce their animal welfare laws but shutting down Phuket Safari Eco+ and sending these animals to sanctuary! Sign the petition and help make a difference.
Last year the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a class-action lawsuit against Petland — a national chain of pet stores that sells dogs from puppy mills.
The lawsuit alleges that Petland sold sick puppies to consumers at premium prices based on deceitful health guarantees. But this deception doesn’t just harm pet owners — because the profits Petland makes come at the expense of the mother dogs and puppies who suffer in the puppy mills Petland buys them from.
Your help to the Animal Legal Defense Fund supports crucial work like this — and helps us stand up for animals when corporations like Petland try to exploit them.
Unfortunately, Petland and the puppy mill industry are not giving up without a fight. In response to efforts at the local level to outlaw the retail sale of commercially-bred puppies, Petland is lobbying for legislation that would override these local ordinances.
These so-called “Petland bills” are popping up in states across the country, threatening grassroots efforts to protect dogs. We need to fight this legislation wherever it appears. Thankfully, we already defeated a bill in Florida in 2018, but Petland will not stop trying to push these bills in multiple states every year and we need your help to stop them.
Help the Animal Legal Defense Fund today and together we’ll fight to shut down puppy mills, prevent cruelty, and combat dishonest retailers.
Last year we filed a lawsuit against a puppy mill in Vallejo, California called California Carolina Dogs.
The photo shown above is from their website, which claims they breed the finest Carolina Dogs – and guarantee their puppies are healthy, free from genetic abnormalities, and superior conformation.
But this puppy mill has bred dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions for years, violating local ordinances and state laws that have gone unenforced. We sued to demand that the court shut down this puppy mill, and with your gift today we will hold individual puppy mill breeders like California Carolina Dogs accountable for their illegal and inhumane activities.
Your support is crucial as we continue this legal fight — because last month we also filed a preliminary injunction asking the court to free the dogs at this puppy mill right now. There’s no reason why they should continue to suffer until this case is decided.
We cannot stand by quietly while innocent dogs and puppies suffer. The law is the best tool we have to protect dogs like these and hold accountable those who exploit and neglect them for the sake of profit.
Help us put an end to puppy mills and other industries that exploit animals by making a generous gift to the Animal Legal Defense Fund today.
We’re attacking this industry from every angle — and with your help, we will win.
Mass Slaughter of Alaskan Wolves
Photos of slain wolves in Alaska, which made the rounds on social media last week, are so disturbing we chose not to include them here.
One shows 10 wolves strung upside down above a bloody floor. Another features a trophy hunter brandishing an AR-15 rifle, arms raised in celebration over the wolf carcasses on the snowy ground.
This thrill-killing of our native animals has to end.
After the photos went public, Alaskan officials were so embarrassed they cut short the hunting and trapping season on state land along the Stampede Trail.
But this is about more than just one state. Trophy hunting continues to gain ground across the country and beyond by those who mow down wildlife just to hang heads on a wall or fashion pelts into rugs.
It's the same sick mentality that drives hunters to take aim at elephants in Africa and call for hunts of Wyoming grizzly bears when they wander out of Yellowstone National Park.
We know where these vicious attitudes lead. Grizzlies, wolves and other big predators were shot, trapped and poisoned to the brink of extinction decades ago. We can't let it happen again.
Stand with us as we stand against those who kill for trophies. The Predator Defense Fund will help take this fight straight to them.
No wolf should ever be in the crosshairs of an AR-15. The Center has gone to court to protect wolves on public lands in Alaska, precisely because of Alaska's awful laws that allow this kind of killing.
We're also on the front lines in the battle to ban elephant trophy imports and stop Wyoming's plans for a grizzly hunt this fall.
Wildlife belongs in the wild, not hanging over a fireplace or on a living-room floor.
With you by our side we'll win in the courts and stop wildlife slaughter. Please join our Predator Defense Fund.
Queen Guitarist Brian May Delivers Huge Fur-Free Petition to Downing Street
Queen guitarist Brian May joined animal-protection campaigners and a giant “fox” and “rabbit” outside 10 Downing Street to hand in a petition with more than 400,000 signatures urging Prime Minister Theresa May to introduce a UK animal-fur import ban.
The petition forms part of the Fur Free Britain campaign by UK animal charities, including PETA. More than a quarter of the signatures were gathered for a UK Government and Parliament petition, which met its goal of 100,000 signees last week, triggering a parliamentary debate on the UK fur trade, which will take place in June.
“Hundreds of thousands of British people have supported our call for a Fur Free Britain, so we hope Mrs May will take decisive action to address the current double standard on fur cruelty,” says a Fur Free Britain campaign spokesperson. “Britain made its stance on fur clear almost two decades ago by banning fur farming because it’s unethical, so it makes no sense to still be importing hundreds of millions of pounds of fur from animals who have endured horrific cruelty in other countries. It’s time the UK pulled the plug on the fur trade.”
Fur farming was banned in the UK in 2000, but since then, Britain has imported animal fur worth more than £650 million from countries such as China and Poland, where animals are typically bred in appalling conditions on fur farms.
The Fur Free Britain campaign is calling on the government to address this contradiction by using Brexit as an opportunity to make the UK a fur-free zone. Campaigners want the existing import bans on cat, dog, and commercially hunted seal fur extended to protect all species.
What You Can Do
The campaign against fur is gathering momentum as some of the world’s largest luxury fashion brands, including Gucci, Michael Kors, and Jimmy Choo, ditch fur in favour of cruelty-free fabrics. Celebrities are also speaking out against the fur trade – 31 of Britain’s biggest stars recently called for a UK ban.
And, Sign Petitions!
2,400 Sheep Died Because of Carelessness. Demand Justice Now.
Emanuel Exports doesn't seem to be too good at its job. The company has, once again, caused the death of a staggering number of sheep that was in their care. The live exporter was shipping around 64,000 animals to the Middle East but just under 62,000 made it there alive.
Now the Australian Department of Agriculture is investigating just how a company whose sole duty is delivering products in good condition, managed to lose a pretty hefty chunk of their cargo.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Emanuel Exports has been responsible for a mass death of sheep. In 2016 the Perth-based exporters lost more than 3,000 head of sheep.
Australia has strict live animal shipping laws and regulations that help ensure animals aren't treated cruelly during the journey nor in the country for which they are destined. In fact, the government has banned or suspended live exports to countries like Indonesia and Egypt in the past.
If Emanuel Exports can't comply with Australian laws and are unable to deliver live sheep in healthy condition then the government should no longer allow them to do so. After more than 5,000 animals have died under their care in just two shipments, the government should have all the proof they need.
Please sign the petition and ask David Littleproud, the agriculture minister, to ban Emanuel Exports from live animal shipments.
Hundreds of Farm Animals Left Without Water or Care. Sign to Demand Justice for these Mistreated Animals!
The scene on a farm in Thurston, Washington was grim. Hundreds of animals — including miniature horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, and turkeys — were rescued after authorities received complaints about animal cruelty. But rescuers weren't prepared for what they found.
The horses had painfully ingrown hooves. There was no clean water or food on the grounds. And many of the animals were covered in bloody sores and visibly ill.
When rescuers brought the animals to safety and provided fresh water for them, it was as if the animals hadn't had a drink in ages.
The Thurston County Sheriff's Office has said they may charge the farm owners for animal cruelty รข€” but no changes have actually been filed.
We can't let animal abuse go unchecked. Sign the petition and tell the Thurston County Sherriff you want justice for these mistreated animals!
More Animal Cruelty News:
Pet
Pig Denied Justice. Kala
Elmore of Lambert, Mississippi was at work when she received the horrific and
heartbreaking news that her dearly loved companion Jolene, a sweet pot-bellied
pig, had been brutally murdered with five gunshots. TAKE
ACTION
Stop
the Federal Lands Hunter Giveaway! A
fatally wounded wolf limps back to her den, but dies before she can feed her
pups. Fish swimming peacefully in a lake are brutally hooked in the mouth and
yanked out of their home to die on the floor of a fishing boat. Deer flee the
sound of gun shots coming from a nearby shooting range. These and many more
scenes like them will become the norm if S. 733, the Sportsmen's Act, becomes
law. This bill must be killed. TAKE
ACTION
Puppy
Mills: The Shameful Secret Everybody Knows. Puppy
mills are one of any number of cruel and practically criminal enterprises that
operate virtually in plain sight throughout the entire country. They evade any
meaningful regulations with fraudulent health certificates to cover up and
disguise mistreated and over-bred mother dogs and their suffering pups -
countless mothers and their puppies who have never known a kind word or gentle
embrace, all part of constant stream of innocent lives to feed pet stores an
endless supply of suffering, traumatized pups. DONATE TODAY
For more information about how your food choices can positively impact the planet and all the animals who live on it, check out the Eat For The Planet book!
Yesterday afternoon, George Grant, the Belvoir Hunt terrier man, and his son Thomas Grant, pleaded guilty to charges of grievous bodily harm on investigator Darryl Cunnington, actual bodily harm on investigator Roger Swaine, theft of a video camera and criminal damage of a memory card. Sentencing has been adjourned until June 14.
The attack took place on March 12th 2016 close to the village of Stathern in Leicestershire and involved the two convicted men and four unidentified masked men who punched and then pushed the investigators off a 14 foot escarpment before escaping with one of the investigator’s cameras.
Darryl Cunnington, League Against Cruel Sports Head of Field Operations, said: ““Hopefully this will send out a message to all hunts that they cannot carry out assaults on people who wish to monitor their activities.
“If they are operating within the law as they claim, then they have nothing to hide.
“By attacking monitors and stealing camera equipment they have shown they fear their hunting activities being recorded, and the possibility of prosecution.
“l am very lucky that the assault has left me with no long-term serious injuries. After falling fourteen feet, finding myself unable to move, I feared I was paralysed. The offenders showed no remorse and left us injured. The fact they refused to cooperate with the police shows no remorse or concern.”
Roger Swain, League Against Cruel Investigators Field Operator who was also assaulted, said: “I’m delighted by the result today. The Investigations team have a policy of non-interference and we are there purely to record any hunting or other cruelty offences. We were filming the Belvoir Hunt from a public bridleway from a distance of 1km. This violent response by an employee of the Hunt and five others was unprovoked and a complete overreaction.
“My colleague Darryl Cunnington was lucky not to have been killed. This conviction sends a powerful message to hunts up and down the country that you cannot simply attack anyone in the vicinity who happens to have a camera or who may disagree with your activities.”
The Belvoir Hunt was recently caught up in another scandal when a gamekeeper was convicted for keeping a fox in cruel conditions in a disused outbuilding, which the League believes was being held to be chased and killed by the hunt.
This verdict only continues to highlight the which side of the law those who hunt and those who investigate operate on, and proves the value of the League’s outstanding investigations.
I hope you will join us in welcoming this verdict, and if you can, please help to support our ongoing investigations work.
Island officials confirmed that Phuket Zoo is under instructions to improve conditions for animals — most notably for the apes and monkeys — housed there.
The news follows award-winning Brit photographer Aaron Gekoski, 37, reporting on horror conditions at Safari World and Pata Zoo in Bangkok, as well as Phuket Zoo, through a report posted in several news outlets.
The report noted despairing conditions for animals and blasted Safari World in Bangkok for forcing orangutans to perform shows to entertain tourists, including having the apes perform a fake boxing match with female orangutans wearing skimpy bikinis and posing as “ring girls.”
Piyawat Sukon, Chief of the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Thaew Conservation Center in Thalang, confirmed yesterday that Phuket Zoo is already under orders to improve conditions for apes and monkeys kept there – if it wants to keep its license as a public zoo.
Piyawat pointed out that Phuket Zoo was instructed to improve conditions for animals during an inspection about three months ago by a committee of the Zoological Park Organization (ZPO), which is the ultimate authority in Thailand for issuing permits for venues to operate as public zoos.
Without the ZPO’s consent, zoo licences are not approved.
“I joined an inspection of Phuket Zoo conducted by a ZPO committee about three months ago. I saw that some parts of Phuket Zoo were kept very well, such as the elephant section, and were approved,” Piyawat said.
“But other areas, such as the sections where apes and monkeys are kept, were not good and needed to improved.”
Piyawat explained that the inspection was “special” in that it was conducted in response to Phuket Zoo applying to renew its license to operate as a public zoo.
If the ape and monkey areas are not improved, the ZPO will be unlikely to renew Phuket Zoo’s license, he said.
Meanwhile, Paisal Sukhapunnapun, of the Phuket Fisheries Office, has confirmed that a crocodile pictured trapped in a tiny enclosure in the report is not “Leypang,” the mixed-breed crocodile captured on Phuket’s west coast in August of last year.
Paisal was tasked with ensuring the care of “Leypang” and making sure that the croc’s new home is appropriate. After much debate, Leypang was handed over to Phuket Zoo to keep in good health.
“I can confirm that the crocodile in the photo is not Leypang. The enclosure at Phuket Zoo created especially for Leypang is much bigger than this,” Paisal said.
“Last month, I went to check on Leypang. I can confirm that Leypang is healthy and eating well,” Paisal said.
“Leypang is very much in the people’s interest, so Phuket Zoo can’t ignore making sure the shelter is appropriate,” he noted.
‘I will return to check in on Leypang from time to time to make sure he is being kept well, though right now I cannot confirm the exact date of my next visit,” Paisal said.
Pichai Sakunsorn, of Phuket Zoo Co. Ltd., declined to comment in detail on the conditions animals at the zoo are kept in.
Instead, he insisted that Phuket Zoo is “in the process of improving conditions” for animals kept there. Pichai declined to provide any photos of the animals’ housing conditions at the zoo today.
“I don’t like this news, which affects Thailand, and especially Phuket as a tourism attraction, with Phuket Zoo being the focus,” Pichai said.
“Whatever we do always results in negative feedback for us. Phuket Zoo is not supported by the government. We have to run it by ourselves and provide our own budget to fix and run the zoo. It needs time,” he said.
“I don’t want to go into this in more detail. Just talking about this topic is enough for today,” he added.
Phuket Zoo last made international headlines in the despairing case of “Milo the Orangutan,” dangerously overweight through poor diet and lack of exercise and kept in a cage under a stage at the zoo, being dumped into the wild in central Phuket amid fears that Milo had been illegally obtained.
Although finally taken into protective care after being held at Phuket Zoo for two years, Milo died just weeks later.
Whether or not Milo was legally acquired was never made clear. However, officials were proud to announce that two other baby orangutans discovered at Phuket Zoo during an inspection resulting from the Milo fiasco were legally acquired – from Safari World in Bangkok.
But if you haven't guessed already, they are doing none of these things by choice.
When the tourists arrive, the music starts and the macaques enter the pavilion with metal chains around their necks along with their trainers. With a quick yank of the chain, the monkeys start to perform and any pretense of fun completely disappears. Any astute animal lover can tell that these animals are suffering.
The monkeys have a tight schedule and they are forced to perform throughout the day, but when they do get a "break," they are stuffed in tiny metal cages backstage. The cages have no food or water, and they are left to sit in boredom until their next show.
But the macaques aren't the only animals suffering at the park. Phuket Safari also has mature and baby elephants, snakes, sheep and other domesticated animals that they force to perform at the whim of paying clientele.
Parks like Phuket Safari are technically illegal. In 2014 the Thai government passed its first ever animal welfare law but it is rarely enforced. If the government doesn't work to shut down these horrible facilities, animals will continue to suffer and Thailand will continue to be known as a country that turns the other way when it comes to animal cruelty.
Tell Thailand to enforce their animal welfare laws but shutting down Phuket Safari Eco+ and sending these animals to sanctuary! Sign the petition and help make a difference.
Unfortunately, Petland and the puppy mill industry are not giving up without a fight. In response to efforts at the local level to outlaw the retail sale of commercially-bred puppies, Petland is lobbying for legislation that would override these local ordinances.
These so-called “Petland bills” are popping up in states across the country, threatening grassroots efforts to protect dogs. We need to fight this legislation wherever it appears. Thankfully, we already defeated a bill in Florida in 2018, but Petland will not stop trying to push these bills in multiple states every year and we need your help to stop them.
Help the Animal Legal Defense Fund today and together we’ll fight to shut down puppy mills, prevent cruelty, and combat dishonest retailers.
Last year we filed a lawsuit against a puppy mill in Vallejo, California called California Carolina Dogs.
Your support is crucial as we continue this legal fight — because last month we also filed a preliminary injunction asking the court to free the dogs at this puppy mill right now. There’s no reason why they should continue to suffer until this case is decided.
We cannot stand by quietly while innocent dogs and puppies suffer. The law is the best tool we have to protect dogs like these and hold accountable those who exploit and neglect them for the sake of profit.
Help us put an end to puppy mills and other industries that exploit animals by making a generous gift to the Animal Legal Defense Fund today.
We’re attacking this industry from every angle — and with your help, we will win.
Mass Slaughter of Alaskan Wolves
One shows 10 wolves strung upside down above a bloody floor. Another features a trophy hunter brandishing an AR-15 rifle, arms raised in celebration over the wolf carcasses on the snowy ground.
This thrill-killing of our native animals has to end.
After the photos went public, Alaskan officials were so embarrassed they cut short the hunting and trapping season on state land along the Stampede Trail.
But this is about more than just one state. Trophy hunting continues to gain ground across the country and beyond by those who mow down wildlife just to hang heads on a wall or fashion pelts into rugs.
It's the same sick mentality that drives hunters to take aim at elephants in Africa and call for hunts of Wyoming grizzly bears when they wander out of Yellowstone National Park.
We know where these vicious attitudes lead. Grizzlies, wolves and other big predators were shot, trapped and poisoned to the brink of extinction decades ago. We can't let it happen again.
Stand with us as we stand against those who kill for trophies. The Predator Defense Fund will help take this fight straight to them.
No wolf should ever be in the crosshairs of an AR-15. The Center has gone to court to protect wolves on public lands in Alaska, precisely because of Alaska's awful laws that allow this kind of killing.
We're also on the front lines in the battle to ban elephant trophy imports and stop Wyoming's plans for a grizzly hunt this fall.
Wildlife belongs in the wild, not hanging over a fireplace or on a living-room floor.
With you by our side we'll win in the courts and stop wildlife slaughter. Please join our Predator Defense Fund.
What This Heartbreaking Picture of Wild Horses Running for Their Lives Has to Do With Your Burger
Animal agriculture certainly takes an enormous toll on our planet. It consumes around 70 percent of the Earth’s freshwater supplies, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that livestock production is responsible for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions while other organizations like the Worldwatch Institute have estimated it could be as much as 51 percent. Not only that but it also occupies around 50 percent of the world’s land. This destructive industry is also having a devastating impact on wildlife. In the U.S. alone, livestock grazing impacts 14 percent of threatened or endangered animals, but some of the most frequent victims of livestock expansion are the wild horses.
In the U.S., wild horses have been particularly hard hit by the meat industry’s demand for more land on which to raise cattle. In recent years, The Bureau of Land Management‘s (BLM) practice of “rounding up” horses using cruel helicopter-driven chases has drawn widespread criticism from animal advocates and concerned members of the public, who know how this traumatic practice impacts animals.
The BLM has continuously maintained that the roundups are “necessary and justified,” with Joan Guilfoyle, head of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, insisting that the numbers of wild horses on U.S. land doubles every year and that the herds must be thinned out to preserve ecological balance. She said, “If we stopped gathering animals, the population would continue to grow and grow and the rangelands would continue to be overgrazed.”
However, as Suzanne Roy – director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign – pointed out: “The reality is that there are a small number of wild horses out there, fewer than 32,000, and there are millions of cattle and sheep. We don’t have an overpopulation of wild horses. We have an overpopulation of livestock on our public lands.”
This picture by the Wild Horse Freedom Federation reveals the heartbreaking reality of roundups.
Under federal law, wild horses are supposed to be protected as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that … enrich the lives of the American people.” But Laura Leigh of Wild Horse Education – who has spent 500 days observing the roundups – stated, “It’s my observation that the government continually violates the provision of the act that requires humane handling of these animals. … I’ve seen broken legs. I’ve seen legs ripped up by barbed wire. I’ve seen horses kicked in the head. I’ve seen animals dragged by the neck with a rope. I’ve seen a helicopter hit horses.”
Once the horses have been captured, they are often sent to live in captivity or put up for auction (where most end up being sold for meat). The separation of families, friends, and even mothers and babies is a routine occurrence. There have also been a number of recorded cases of BLM contractors selling the horses to slaughterhouses. It is an unspeakable tragedy that wild horses – the animals traditionally regarded as an emblem of freedom, beauty, and grace – are being subjected to this treatment.
However, by leaving meat off your plate, you can take a stand against this outrageous practice. With a lower demand for meat, less land will be required for cattle ranching, and fewer wild horses will suffer. To learn more, read some of the articles below:
The petition forms part of the Fur Free Britain campaign by UK animal charities, including PETA. More than a quarter of the signatures were gathered for a UK Government and Parliament petition, which met its goal of 100,000 signees last week, triggering a parliamentary debate on the UK fur trade, which will take place in June.
“Hundreds of thousands of British people have supported our call for a Fur Free Britain, so we hope Mrs May will take decisive action to address the current double standard on fur cruelty,” says a Fur Free Britain campaign spokesperson. “Britain made its stance on fur clear almost two decades ago by banning fur farming because it’s unethical, so it makes no sense to still be importing hundreds of millions of pounds of fur from animals who have endured horrific cruelty in other countries. It’s time the UK pulled the plug on the fur trade.”
Fur farming was banned in the UK in 2000, but since then, Britain has imported animal fur worth more than £650 million from countries such as China and Poland, where animals are typically bred in appalling conditions on fur farms.
The Fur Free Britain campaign is calling on the government to address this contradiction by using Brexit as an opportunity to make the UK a fur-free zone. Campaigners want the existing import bans on cat, dog, and commercially hunted seal fur extended to protect all species.
What You Can Do
The campaign against fur is gathering momentum as some of the world’s largest luxury fashion brands, including Gucci, Michael Kors, and Jimmy Choo, ditch fur in favour of cruelty-free fabrics. Celebrities are also speaking out against the fur trade – 31 of Britain’s biggest stars recently called for a UK ban.
And, Sign Petitions!
2,400 Sheep Died Because of Carelessness. Demand Justice Now.
Now the Australian Department of Agriculture is investigating just how a company whose sole duty is delivering products in good condition, managed to lose a pretty hefty chunk of their cargo.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Emanuel Exports has been responsible for a mass death of sheep. In 2016 the Perth-based exporters lost more than 3,000 head of sheep.
Australia has strict live animal shipping laws and regulations that help ensure animals aren't treated cruelly during the journey nor in the country for which they are destined. In fact, the government has banned or suspended live exports to countries like Indonesia and Egypt in the past.
If Emanuel Exports can't comply with Australian laws and are unable to deliver live sheep in healthy condition then the government should no longer allow them to do so. After more than 5,000 animals have died under their care in just two shipments, the government should have all the proof they need.
Please sign the petition and ask David Littleproud, the agriculture minister, to ban Emanuel Exports from live animal shipments.
Hundreds of Farm Animals Left Without Water or Care. Sign to Demand Justice for these Mistreated Animals!
The horses had painfully ingrown hooves. There was no clean water or food on the grounds. And many of the animals were covered in bloody sores and visibly ill.
When rescuers brought the animals to safety and provided fresh water for them, it was as if the animals hadn't had a drink in ages.
The Thurston County Sheriff's Office has said they may charge the farm owners for animal cruelty รข€” but no changes have actually been filed.
We can't let animal abuse go unchecked. Sign the petition and tell the Thurston County Sherriff you want justice for these mistreated animals!
More Animal Cruelty News:
For more information about how your food choices can positively impact the planet and all the animals who live on it, check out the Eat For The Planet book!
