Animal Welfare - Animal Protection - Animal Rights

Wildlife Protection

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

Bring Kei the Wolf Home

Kei, a North American Timber Wolf, lives alone in a barren concrete enclosure at the Okinawa Children's Zoo in Japan. She was brought there in 1992, when she was less than four months old, and has lived a lonely, solitary life ever since. Unlike other wolves who live in packs, Kei never experiences the joys of companionship and belonging. When not eating or sleeping, she paces her enclosure in boredom, her natural need to explore wide-open spaces constantly frustrated.

Fortunately, there is still hope for Kei. The Rocky Mountains Wolf Sanctuary has agreed to take care of Kei if the Zoo will relinquish her, and a campaign is underway to convince them that it is in Kei's best interest to live out the remainder of her life a natural habitat with other wolves. Please use your voice to help Kei return to where she belongs.

Visit www.keithewolf.com to learn about the many ways that you can help bring Kei home, including signing the petition, sending her a belated birthday card, and writing polite letters to Japanese officials urging them to do what is best for Kei. Here's a poem by 15-year-old Sam McCreesh to inspire you to action:

One day Kei will return home and her misery will be ended
Until then we will fight for her release - will you?
One thing's certain - we won't give up until things are mended
Please spare some time in your life to help Kei too

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

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

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