Humane Travel

STA Travel has taken a step in the right direction by ending tours involving inhumane treatment of animals.

Paws Up!
To STA Travel for ending tours that involve elephant rides and trips to SeaWorld.

According to a news story, “STA Travel, which provides flights, accommodation, tours and expeditions for 2.5 million students and young people each year, has stopped tours taking in elephant rides and Tiger Temple in Thailand, as well as trips to SeaWorld in Orlando and San Diego….”

There are many ways to teach humane treatment of animals and STA has taken one way—by no longer offering tours to locations where animals are being mistreated and abused. The old cliché, “actions speak louder than words,” is definitely at work here.

Take Action: What actions can you take that will show others you will not tolerate animal mistreatment and abuse? Take those actions now. Support organizations that are already taking action to disengage from events/locations that support animal mistreatment and abuse. You can also write a note thanking STA Tours for taking action.

John Constable, CEO
STA Travel Ltd.
Priory House, 6 Wrights Lane, Kensington
London, W8 6TA England

When you think about it…is catch-and-release fishing humane?

Catch-and-release fishing is an inhumane sport that usually results in death of the fish.

A television commercial shows a grandfather taking his grandson on their favorite adventure—a fishing trip. The grandfather’s health was in question and he was concerned he’d not be able to continue this “tradition.” The grandfather takes the advertised medication, is miraculously younger and more vibrant, and is able to engage in his favorite pastime with his grandson. We don’t know if the pair engages in “catch-and-release” fishing as some anglers do or if they carry their catch home to grandma. Regardless, fishing destroys lives and those who profess to fish compassionately destroy them no less than do those who take the fish home and fry them up for supper.

Catch-and-release fishing involves snagging a fish with a barbed hook that is then ripped out but only after the fish has been dragged out of his or her natural habitat. They are brought into a boat or onto land, gasping and writhing until the angler tosses the fish back into the quiet crystal waters of the river or lake they call home, only to die a slow death as they bleed out.

How would we feel if fish were in charge? If they took their grandsons down to the “human watering hole” and snagged us with a hook, dragged us under water, tore the hook out of our mouth, and then tossed us back in? I don’t think we’d find that a favorite pastime nor would we want to engage in it if we could. So, when you think about it…catch-and-release fishing is no more humane than catch and kill.

Elephants Safe in LA

The use of bullhooks on circus elephants is now prohibited in the city of Los Angeles.

Paws Up!
To the Los Angeles City Council for banning the use of bullhooks on circus elephants.

The Los Angeles City Council “voted unanimously to prohibit the use of ankus or bullhooks, which is a tool used by animal trainers at circuses to keep large elephants in line, starting in 2017.”

Bullhooks are inhumane tools of the circus trade and need to be outlawed across the country. But bullhooks are really only one part of the problem. Circuses in general are abusive to animals. Learn more about the degradation animals experience in circuses and roadside shows.

Take Action: California residents, thank the leaders in Los Angeles for taking a stand to protect elephants in circuses. If you live outside LA, let your council members know you want them to follow Los Angeles’s lead. And never, never support a circus that promotes animal shows.

Herb Wesson, President
Mitchell Englander, President Pro Tempore
Los Angeles City Council
City Hall
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012