Wildlife Protection
Bear Baiting -
The cruel practice of bear baiting
Investigators for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a WSPA member society , recently attended several bear baiting competitions (called "bear baying") in South Carolina. What they found will shock you.
In each event, a captive bear - with its claws and many teeth cut down or removed - was tethered in an arena. Team after team of dogs were then released into the arena to bark at, jump on and bite the frightened, defenseless bear for hours at a time. These events are billed as training exercises for hounds but are nothing more than public spectacles.
Bear baying is an inhumane practice that has been outlawed in every U.S. state except South Carolina.
WSPA has already contacted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to voice our opposition on bear baying - and we hope you do the same! Please make a brief, polite phone call to the South Carolina DNR at 803-734-3886 and ask them to (a) prohibit bear baying and (b) revoke the permits for people who torment bears so cruelly.
For more information on the global issue of bear baiting, please visit WSPA's Web site. Thank you for your support.
Source: WSPA http://www.wspa-usa.org/pages/391_bear_baiting.cfm
1,800 Wild Horses Targeted For California Roundup - Public Comments Needed, Every Comment Helps
Source: In Defense of Animals http://www.idausa.org/
https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1387
A Heartbeat Away from Disaster for Animals?
But it’s not Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s personal love of hunting or appetite for moose venison that should strike fear in the heart of every animal advocate in the nation...... read more
Source: Humane Society United States
http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2008/09/palin.html
Sanctuary for Wolfs
Mission: Wolf is a peaceful wolf sanctuary located in the remote
mountains of Colorado. Many people who visit the sanctuary are
astounded by how far removed we are from civilization. This comes
from the desire to provide our resident wolves with the most peaceful
life as possible. We have large fenced-in areas for the wolves
to call home. We experience the tragedy that results when wolves
are confined to captivity; therefore we discourage the keeping
of wolves as pets.
To ensure the wolf's survival in the wild lands of the United
States, we accept donations and have an online store. We use the
proceeds to educate the public about wolves and the importance
of habitat protection.
To this end, anyone is welcome to visit Mission: Wolf for a unique
educational experience.
Source: Mission:Wolf
http://www.missionwolf.com/
Action Alert:
Endangered Cats and Dogs Need Your Help
Published 01/24/08
The United States Congress is currently considering legislation
to establish a new fund to provide much-needed grant money to
conservation projects that help conserve threatened and endangered
wild cat and dog species in developing countries.
The pending legislation, H.R. 1464 (introduced by Congressman Udall
of New Mexico) and S. 1033 (introduced by Senator Lieberman of
Connecticut) would establish a fund “to restore and perpetuate
healthy populations of rare felids and rare canids in the wild;
and to assist in the conservation of rare felid and rare canid
populations worldwide.” This fund would be authorized to
include as much as $5,000,000 each year from 2008 to 2012.
Please write your elected federal officials today and urge them
to pass the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2007.
The Issue
There are significant risks to many species of felids and canids
throughout the world. African
lions (Panthera leo) are sport-hunted across the continent
and are slaughtered for their internal organs, which are used in
traditional African medicines. The population of wild lions in
Africa has dropped by 75% in the past 30 years. African
painted dogs (Lycaon pictus), which numbered more
than 300,000 a century ago, have dwindled to approximately 3,000
wild specimens and have been extirpated from 25 of the 39 countries
where they formerly resided. And the Ethiopian
wolf (Canis simensis), clinging perilously to life
in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, includes fewer than 500 individuals,
making it one of the rarest carnivores on the planet.
All of these species are important to Born Free; our global team
engages in vital conservation projects to save them in the wild;
and with the help of resources from Congress, they would have a
fighting chance of survival.
Projects supported by this Fund could go toward research and population
monitoring, wildlife law enforcement, community outreach and education,
and conflict resolution.
Your investment of a short amount of time could unleash millions
of conservation dollars and, quite literally, save wild cats and
dogs from extinction.
How You Can Help
Please contact your U.S. Representative and your two U.S. Senators
and ask that that they co-sponsor the Great Cats
and Rare Canids Act of 2007 (H.R. 1464/S. 1033).
For the names and contact information for your three Federal
legislators, please call 202-224-3121 or click
here. Enter your zip code in the search box titled “Write
Your Officials” at the left side of the webpage and press “enter”.
The names of all your lawmakers will appear in the center of your
browser window. Just click on the names of your Representative
and Senators for detailed contact information.
Sample Wording
When you contact your Senators’ or Representative’s
office, all you have to say is:
As a constituent, I want you to know of my strong support
for the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2007. I know that there
are funds, administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, to assist in conservation projects for African and Asian
elephants, tigers and rhinos, great apes, marine turtles, and
neotropical migratory birds. But there are many other species
whose very survival depends on efforts to save them in their
natural habitats. These species include lions, leopards, African
wild dogs, cheetah, snow leopards, and Iberian lynx. Please co-sponsor
the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2007 and do all you can
to ensure its swift passage this year.
- To find out if your U.S. Representative is already a co-sponsor click
here.
- To find out if your U.S. Senators are already co-sponsors click
here.
If you have questions or would like to let Born Free USA united
with API know you took action, click
here.
Thank you for taking action to protect threatened and
endangered cats and dogs in the wild!
Additional Information
Find out more about these bills by visiting our webpages for H.R.
1464 and S.
1033
Source: Born Free
USA
Direct Link: http://www.api4animals.org/actionalerts.php?p=1406&more=1
America's wolves
need our help!
America's wolves were nearly eradicated in the 20th century. Now,
after a remarkable recovery in parts of the country, wolves are
once more threatened.
In the Northern Rockies… the federal government has put
forth a proposal that could lead to the slaughter of hundreds of
wolves in Idaho and Wyoming. Even Yellowstone wolves could be shot
on site if they wander outside the park's boundaries!
In Alaska… state officials continue to allow airborne
gunners to kill hundreds of wolves. Easy targets against the snow,
hundreds of wolves have been shot from above or chased to exhaustion
and then killed by aerial gunners who land and execute them at
point-blank range.
In the Southwest… misinformation and anti-wolf sentiment
runs high, with wolf recovery in Arizona and New Mexico limited
to a defined area if the wolves set up territories elsewhere, they
are captured and returned.
Defenders of Wildlife continues the fight to promote common sense
wolf management, working with federal and state officials and private
land-owners to ensure that science, not politics, guides decision-making
about the future of these American icons.
Source: Defenders
of Wildlife
Canada's
Ice Floes Turn Red With the Blood of Baby Seals
Words cannot describe the cruelty
of the annual seal "hunt," which is really more of a
massacre and will begin in just a few days. To stop this yearly
atrocity, we must generate an international outcry against the
Canadian government. I hope that you will support PETA's public
call for an end to this slaughter by immediately taking two important
actions:
Sign PETA's Petition:
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/seal_hunt07
All
Acting Animals (Mitchell, Karl)
USDA License #88-C-0076
6941 Oakridge Rd., Pahrump, NV 89048
All
Acting Animals has failed to meet minimal federal standards
for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in
the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) has filed formal charges against All
Acting Animals for chronic, serious violations that include
failure to provide animals with drinking water, failure to
provide wholesome, uncontaminated food, failure to provide
shelter from the elements, failure to provide adequate space,
and failure to maintain enclosures and for threatening and
harassing USDA officials. The USDA has cited All Acting Animals
for failure to provide veterinary care and for filthy and unsanitary
conditions. Karl Mitchell has been arrested numerous times
and charged with burglary, carrying loaded guns in public,
assault, felony stalking, auto theft, and evading arrest. The
California Fish and Game Department considers Mitchell a danger
to both people and animals. Contact PETA for documentation.
full
article
SOURCE: PETA
BEARS
CRY OUT FOR HUMANITY IN CHINA
It's amazing that in the 20th century, when man has already gone to the
Moon and computers are globalizing knowledge, still there are in China
thousands of bears emprisoned in order to have their bile extracted that,
according to a long tradition of the chinese medicine, claiming to cure
many illnesses such as headache, kidney stones, cirrhosis, hangover and
lately used to make shampoo and aphrodisiacs. There is very limited proof
scientifically that any of this really works.
To
sign petition: http://www.gopetition.com/info.php?petid=50
Animals
Asia Foundation
It was Jill who originally uncovered and exposed Bear Farming in China
in the early 90's, and has worked tirelessly ever since, on the ground
in China, to stop this terribly cruel practice. At a Press Conference
in Hong Kong on Monday 24th July, Animals Asia announced that it has
secured the release of 500 Moon Bears who are suffering on the worst
farms in Sichuan Province in China. Most importantly, Jill has signed
an agreement with the Chinese authorities that pledges to work towards
bringing bear farming to an end!!!
We
have just launched our new web site which has been specially
designed to help the bears - it's at: http://www.animalsasia.org There,
you can find out all about the work that we do on the ground
to help bears and other animals in China and other Asian countries
and what you can do to help. You can also follow this historic
China Bear Rescue by signing up for email updates on the site.
Please visit, and tell your friends about it!
I
am also very happy to tell you that the China Bear Rescue has
begun with the release of a significant number of bears in October!
They have had surgery to remove their implants and are on the
road to recovery.
Thank
you for caring about the bears - with the support of caring people
like you, we can set the bears free and progress our goal of
ending bear farming forever!
With
grateful thanks,
Annie, Animals Asia Foundation
Get
Lions Out of Glass Box in Las Vegas Hotel
The
MGM Grand Hotel recently spent $9 million to build a lion cage,
so that visitors can observe a small pride of lions through glass
walls. In addition, the casino forces lion cubs to sit for up
to six hours a day, six days a week, to pose for pictures.
The
hotel claims it is "educating" visitors about lions
and justifies keeping the animals in captivity by pledging to
donate a portion of the proceeds generated by the exhibit to
organizations promoting lion preservation. However, holding lions
in captivity does nothing but degrade the species and deprive
the individuals involved of a proper life and natural social
relationships and stimulation. A true understanding and appreciation
of animals can't come from looking at animals in glass boxes
with every aspect of their existences regulated. What people
learn from this is how animals act in captivity, and that it's
acceptable to cause wild animals to be bored, cramped, lonely,
and far from their natural homes.
Please
let MGM know you will not visit its hotel or casino or any other
operation of the MGM Grand until this exhibit is closed. Contact:
Office
of the President & CEO
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Tel.: 888-646-1203 or 702-891-7777
E-Mail: info@mgmgrand.com
MGM
Grand Lion Habitat
MGM | 
