Factory Farmed Animals Win Some/Lose Some

Paws Up!
To a California legislator for withdrawing an “ag-gag” bill.

Paws Down!
To the Tennessee legislature for passing one.

“Ag-gag” laws are being considered in many states in order to provide protection for those that commit inhumane acts upon factory-farmed animals.

“Ag-gag” laws are being considered in many states. These laws are meant to interfere with undercover investigations of factory farms. They end up protecting employers and employees of factory farms who are abusing the animals in their care. These laws also destroy freedom of speech and the public’s right to know what happens to animals raised and slaughtered for food.

According to a news story, the author of California’s ag-gag bill (AB 343) withdrew the bill. However Tennessee passed such a bill in both houses and has sent it to the governor for signature.

Take Action: Tennessee residents, contact your governor and urge him not to sign the Livestock Cruelty Prevention Act (HB 1191/SB 1248).
California residents, let your legislators know you are not in favor of any bill that interferes with the pursuit of truth in the factory farm industry.

Ships and Whales Don’t Mix

Paws Up!
To the International Maritime Organization for protecting whales in California waters.

According to a news story, “Ship traffic off the California coast will be re-routed under new rules designed to protect slow-moving endangered whales from ship collisions.

“The International Maritime Organization has approved vessel lane changes on approaches to San Francisco Bay and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and in the Santa Barbara Channel. The changes take effect [in 2013].”

“Slow-moving whales are highly vulnerable to ship strikes because many of their feeding and migration areas overlap with shipping lanes. In 2007, four whales (all blue whales) were killed by confirmed or likely ship strikes in and around the Santa Barbara Channel, NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] said. In 2010, five whales (two blue, one humpback, and two fin whales) were killed by confirmed or likely ship strikes in the San Francisco area and elsewhere along the north-central California coast.”

Blue, humpback, and fin whales are protected by the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.

Unfortunately, every year there are ship collisions with endangered whales.

Take Action: Take a moment to thank the International Maritime Organization for protecting these endangered species.

Koji Sekimizu, Secretary-General
International Maritime Organization
4, Albert Embankment
London
SE1 7SR
United Kingdom
Tele. No.: +44 (0)20 7735 7611
Fax No.: +44 (0)20 7587 3210
Email: info@imo.org

LA May Ban Performing Elephants

Life with a circus is not humane for elephants.

According to a news story, the City Council of “Los Angeles is poised to ban elephants from performing in circuses within its city limits….”

The circus has been around since ancient times. Meant to entertain, circuses often mean suffering, pain, fear, and degradation for the animals who are forced to perform day after day. Life is hard for the humans who choose to work in the circus. Life is inhumane for the nonhuman animals who have no choice.

Los Angeles residents, please contact the mayor and your council members to express your desire that circus elephants should not be allowed to perform in your city.

California residents, please contact the mayor of Los Angeles and members of the Los Angeles City Council to express your support of the proposed ban.

The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor
The Honorable Herb J. Wesson, Jr., Council President
The Honorable Ed Reyes, President Pro Tempore
City Hall
200 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Great Whites Need Our Support

These large predators need protection from us.

The U.S. government is considering listing the California great white shark under the Endangered Species Act. Please let the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the director of the California Fish and Game Commission know that you support the need to protect the few hundred remaining great white sharks, an ancient animal, before they vanish from California’s coastal waters.

Dr. Jane Lubchenco
Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
and Administrator
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room 5128
Washington, DC 20230

Sonke Mastrup, Executive Director
California Fish and Game Commission
P. O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090

Secretary of the Interior Needs to Hear from You

Cetaceans such as this humpback whale are endangered by intense sound waves.

Two issues are before the Department of the Interior that require our attention. The first issue has to do with the use of high-intensity airguns in the exploration of offshore oil and gas along the Atlantic Coast from Florida to the New Jersey border. The constant dynamite-like blasts will occur around the clock for weeks and possibly months. All sea creatures within this area will be subjected to the noise. Dolphins and whales, in particular, will suffer as they rely on sound for feeding, communication, and navigation.

A second issue facing the Department of the Interior is whether to uphold the 1976 Point Reyes Wilderness Act. When the act was passed, an existing commercial oyster operation within Drakes Estero was given a 40-year lease to operate within the park. The lease expires this year at which time Drakes Estero would revert to a wilderness area. The secretary of the Interior needs to uphold this agreement. The Drakes Estero is the West Coast’s only marine wilderness area and is the home to harbor seals, white pelicans, leopard sharks, and bat rays.

The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240

California Protects Animals

Paws Up!

To the California legislature for enacting and Governor Jerry Brown for signing into law several important statutes to protect animals.

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1221, which will outlaw the use of dogs in bear and bobcat hunting in California.

A second law, SB 1229, prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to declaw or debark their animals as a condition of renting from them.

Additional bills were enacted and signed into law that will protect the animals of California.

Take Action: California residents, please thank your legislators and your governor for being active in protecting the animals of your state. Residents of other states, please contact your legislators and make sure they are backing animal-friendly legislation.

Elephants Need Your Help

Elephants are majestic creatures who in the wild travel dozens of miles each day. They do not belong in captivity.

Paws Up!
To the Honorable Superior Court Judge John L. Segal for ordering the Los Angeles Zoo to make changes in the way elephants are treated at the zoo.

Judge John L. Segal is quoted as writing in his decision, “The evidence at trial shows that life at the Los Angeles Zoo for Billy, Tina, and Jewel is empty, purposeless, boring, and occasionally painful.” While the judge did not issue an order to close the exhibit, he did order the zoo to make changes in how they care for the elephants. Such changes include increasing exercise time for the elephants, rototilling the soil to soften it, and banning bullhooks and electric shock devices.

NHES opposes zoo elephant exhibits in which the elephants:
• Have inappropriate space for roaming and foraging. Elephants typically roam 10 miles a day over ranges measuring hundreds of square miles.
• Reside on hard ground and cement surfaces, contributing substantially to painful foot and leg ailments. Foot disease is a common cause of death in captive elephants.
• Endure conditions that induce psychological and emotional suffering; for instance, living in isolation for extended periods of time.
• Suffer from the inability to partake in natural behaviors, like forming family groups. Infant elephants are often shipped to other zoos or circuses.
• Develop stereotypies, such as swaying or patterned walking, which are considered symptoms of psychological distress.
• Are subjected to inhumane treatment through the use of bullhooks and other negative training devices.
• Live in climates that do not replicate their natural environment, causing them undue stress.

While the judge’s order will help the elephants in the short term, they are not the best solutions for their long-term welfare.

Take Action: Thank Judge Segal for his order to protect the elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo and urge him to reconsider his decision to let the elephant exhibit remain open.

The Honorable John L. Segal
Judge, Superior Court, Los Angeles County
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
111 North Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Plover Protected

Paws Up!
To the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for increasing the protected habitat of the western snowy plover.

According to a recent news article, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “designated 38 square miles along the West Coast as critical habitat for a federally listed beach- and mud-loving bird called the Pacific Coast western snowy plover.

As with all endangered species, these efforts aren’t just about saving the snowy plover. Because species are intertwined in the food web, saving even the smallest of animals makes a huge impact on all wildlife.

“The designation more than doubles the amount of habitat set aside for the threatened pocket-size birds in California, Oregon and Washington.”

Whenever we can protect threatened and endangered species and their habitat, we can save them from the brink of extinction. By our actions today, we can keep a part of our natural world intact for future generations.

Take Action: Thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for taking action to save the western snowy plover.

Rowan W. Gould, Acting Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

LA to ban selling cats and dogs

With so many companion animals needing homes already, it makes no sense to breed more to sell in pet stores for profit.

Paws Up!

To the Los Angeles City Council for approving a motion to ban the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores.

According to a news story, “The L.A. City Council voted…in favor of banning stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits that are not rescues in an effort to curb the city’s animal euthanasia rates.”

By focusing pet store sales on rescued animals rather than on those bred most often in puppy mills, the city hopes to encourage the adoption of animals from local shelters and thereby reduce the pet overpopulation in Los Angeles.

Take Action: Los Angeles residents, contact your city council members and let them know you support their effort. Residents of other jurisdictions, if there are pet stores in your area selling puppies and kittens from mills, suggest to your elected officials they take the same action Los Angeles has.

Los Angeles City Council
City Hall
200 North Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tele. No.: 213-485-2121

Source:
Southern California Public Radio 89.3 KPCC
CBS Los Angeles

 

Elephants on the Move

It's great that Connie and Shaba remain together, but the best place for them to be is a wildlife sanctuary.

Paws Up!
To Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, Arizona, for deciding to keep elephants Connie and Shaba together as they moved to a new location.

Paws Down!
To the same zoo for sending them to the San Diego Zoo instead of an elephant sanctuary.

Where the animals are concerned, sometimes a good act turns out to not be a great act. According to a news source, “…after weeks of public outcry, the [Tucson, Arizona] city council decided to keep Connie and Shaba together.” However, that decision, although on the surface a good one, still leaves the two elephants at the mercy of zoo officials in San Diego where they are now residing.

These two elephants have a long history of caring for one another and deserve to be retired to an elephant sanctuary instead of another zoo.

Take Action: Write a letter to the San Diego Zoo asking them first to respect the two elephants by keeping them together and to further respect them by retiring them permanently to an appropriate elephant sanctuary.

Douglas G. Myers, Executive Director
San Diego Zoo Global
c/o the San Diego Zoo
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

Source:
KGUN-TV9
Reid Park Zoo