Peta sues Miami aquarium to demand release of Lolita the killer whale

Animal rights groups condemn orca’s 40 years in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium, leaving her unable to ‘carry out virtually any natural behaviors’

Reuters in Miami

Monday 20 July 2015 21.21 BSTLast modified on Monday 20 July 201521.49 BST

Animal rights groups seeking the release of Lolita, a killer whale in captivity since 1970, sued the Miami Seaquarium and its parent company Palace Entertainment on Monday saying her conditions violate the Endangered Species Act.

“For more than 40 years, Lolita has been unable to swim any meaningful distance, dive, forage, or carry out virtually any natural behaviors,” said the complaint, filed in the southern district of Florida by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).

Activists have long bemoaned her tank, which measures 80ft (24 meters) long, 60ft (18 meters) wide and 20ft (6 meters) deep, as one of the smallest whale enclosures in the world. She has also been without another orca since 1980 when her tank mate, Hugo, died, the complaint added.

The federal government cleared a path for the lawsuit earlier this year after adding the 7,000lb orca to the endangered species list.

Lolita, who performs seven days a week, was captured in the summer of 1970 off the coast of Washington state when she was between three and six years old, according to court documents.

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Peta calls for aquarium's cafe to take fish off the menu saying 'it's like serving monkey nuggets at a zoo'

The animal rights group writes on behalf of 'all the fish in the sea' to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, Devon, saying the fact it serves seafood is 'odd'

By Agency

8:29AM GMT 12 Feb 2015

The National Marine Aquarium has come to blows with an animal rights group for serving fish in its restaurant.

It received an angry letter from Peta condemning the popular attraction for offering visitors fish-based meals.

The letter, written on behalf of "all the fish in the sea", compares selling seafood at the aquarium to "serving monkey nuggets at a zoo".

Peta's specialist project manager Dawn Carr said: "The National Marine Aquarium advertises itself as a place where people can cultivate an understanding of and admiration for sea animals.

"Yet after inviting people to look on these glorious, fascinating animals in awe, it's odd that your cafe then invites people to stick a fork in them.

"Serving fish in an aquarium is like serving monkey nuggets at a zoo."

Peta is calling for the aquarium to take fish off the menu - and suggests the attraction instead serves vegetarian options such as fish-free fish fingers, faux-fish cakes and vegetarian prawns.

"The fact remains that the seafood in your cafs is made from living sea animals who treasured life and were needlessly subjected to pain and fear," it adds.

Continued ...

Court Rules That Sunder WILL Be Free!

We have some excellent news today that is bound to bring a smile to the face of anyone who has heard the story of Sunder, a young Indian elephant who has spent the last six years chained up in a temple, miserable and alone, and endured beatings and abuse.

Today, in a landmark judgment, the Honourable Bombay High Court ruled in favour of PETA India by upholding the implementation of the Joint Secretary (Forests), Government of Maharashtra’s order of August 2012 to release Sunder to a sanctuary. This is the result we’ve all been hoping for, and it’s a major victory in the 21-month-long campaigns by PETA and our international affiliates to free Sunder – supported by Paul McCartney,Pamela Anderson, many well-known Bollywood stars and more than 17,000 PETA UK supporters who wrote to Indian officials calling for Sunder’s release.

Sunder’s shocking beatings have been caught on videotape, and veterinarians and elephant experts who examined him found him scarred, wounded and chained so tightly that he couldn’t lie down. The Jyotiba temple came into possession of Sunder in 2007, but after constant chaining and beatings came to light, Maharashtra Minister of Forests Dr Patangrao Kadam and the Project Elephant division of the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued orders for Sunder’s release to a sanctuary on 21 August 2012 and 9 November 2012, respectively. However, those orders were never carried out, and Sunder was then whisked away at the behest of the Member of Legislative Assembly Vinay Kore and hidden in an old poultry shed, where he remained chained. In December 2013, PETA India obtained new video footage showing that his mahout was violently beating him.

Now, at long last, it looks like Sunder’s suffering could be over. The next step will be to transfer Sunder to the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore. PETA India is calling on officials to implement the court’s order quickly, before he can be harmed again.

Thank you to everyone who spoke out for Sunder. Now, all compassionate people can look forward to seeing him finally receive the care and respect that he deserves.

http://blog.peta.org.uk/2014/04/court-rules-that-sunder-will-be-free/

UK proposes greater transparency on animal research

Government seeks to ditch rule preventing release of laboratory information. 

Daniel Cressey

01 May 2014 

Organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have been campaigning for the disclosure of more information on animal research in the United Kingdom.

The government of the United Kingdom wants to jettison rules that prevent it releasing any confidential information it holds about animal research, as part of a continuing push towards openness about such work.

Animal-rights groups have long complained about what they characterise as a “secrecy clause” that prevents details of animal research in the UK being made public. The Home Office collects huge amounts of information such as the type of work done, the people and institutions doing it, and the results of inspections at laboratories. However it is currently prevented from revealing anything potentially considered confidential under ‘section 24’ of the rules governing animal research.

Today the government said that it would like repeal this blanket ban on information disclosure, as it has previously promised, and requested comment on its proposal. In place of section 24, it would like to introduce a new rule prohibiting disclosure only of information relating to “people, places and intellectual property”.

Home Office minister Norman Baker said in the consultation document released today, “To maintain public trust we must be as open and transparent as possible about activities under the regulatory framework.”

Continued

Is she fur real? PETA slams fashion writer spotted wearing a coat made from GORILLA PELT in Paris

• Diane Pernet received the coat as a gift from a friend who is vegetarian
• Gorillas share 98per cent of their DNA with humans
• Three of the world's four gorilla species have been deemed 'critically endangered'

A fashion editor has been spotted wearing a vintage coat made of real gorilla fur.

American-born, Paris-based writer Diane Pernet was photographed by the Associated Presswearing an ensemble that included the endangered species’ pelt.

In a tweet dispatched from the French capital today the news agency wrote: ‘Fashion icon Diane Pernet wears a real, vintage gorilla coat at Paris fashion week.’

Read on

Retailers Who Have Dropped Angora – the List

Things are moving extremely fast in the campaign against angora. More and more companies are listening to their customers and ditching angora after shocking video footage released by PETA and its international affiliates showed how rabbits are abused on Chinese angora farms.

We’re delighted that so many retailers are taking note, and we’ve been blown away by the passion of supporters and activists around the world about this issue. But some brands have gone further than others in taking decisive action against cruelty to rabbits.

Continued

Ralph Fiennes Slams Fortnum & Mason over Foie Gras Sale: WARNING graphic video

EDITOR'S NOTE: The CFZ is primarily a research organisation, but we are also involved in activism and animal welfare. Therefore, stories like this, which aren't the least bit Fortean, are included because we think that it is important that such events are highlighted, rather than ignored.

June 27, 2013 5:25 PM GMT

Peta has exclusively revealed to IBTimes UK that actor Ralph Fiennes has written to Fortnum & Mason chief executive Ewan Venters to complain about its sale of foie gras.

Fiennes said he was appalled that the exclusive department store sells the product after seeing a video of geese being force-fed to produce the delicacy.

The actor urged Venters to ask him to stop selling foie gras, which is illegal to make in the UK.

An undercover film by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) exposed the abuse suffered by geese at a farm that supplies Fortnum & Mason with foie gras.

The film, narrated by Roger Moore, shows the birds being force-fed and having knives plunged into their throats without being stunned.

The geese are fed huge amounts of grain which is pumped into their stomachs through metal pipes, causing their livers to swell to 10 times their normal size and press up against their lungs.

In his letter, Fiennes said: "Animals and their welfare mean a lot to me and to the majority of the British public. That's why after watching video footage from Peta's harrowing undercover investigation of goose farms from which Fortnum & Mason obtains foie gras, I had to write to you.

Continued

PETA in a Dogfight over its Euthanasia Practices

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) euthanized almost 90 percent of the animals sheltered at the group's headquarters in Norfolk, Va., in 2012, and the organization is taking heat for it.

Critics are charging PETA — renowned for its aggressive anti-cruelty campaigns — with hypocrisy after the group's euthanasia statistics were posted on the website of theVirginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

PETA, however, insists the allegations are financially motivated by an industry group whose "goal is to damage PETA by misrepresenting the situation," said Jane Dollinger, spokeswoman for PETA, in a statement.

According to the published records, PETA euthanized 1,675 of the 1,877 animals in its care in 2012, including 602 dogs and 1,045 cats.

"It seems PETA is more dedicated to publicity stunts than to keeping the animals in its own care alive," Justin Wilson of the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) told the Daily Mail.

"It's the height of hypocrisy for PETA to demonstrate for the 'rights' of rats and pigs, while killing tens of thousands of pets. It's time that the Commonwealth of Virginia finally reclassifies PETA's pet shelter for what it is — a slaughterhouse," Wilson said.

The CCF is a nonprofit organization "devoted to promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choices" from "animal-rights misanthropes and meddling bureaucrats," according to its website.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/28091-peta-euthanasia.html

LAKE ELSINORE: Thousands of Animals Euthanized in Breeder Case - via Herp Digest

BY JOHN F. HILL, STAFF WRITER , December 19, 2012 

WEBLINK WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: PETA video shows conditions at Lake Elsinore facility

WEBLINK Global Captive Breeders website

More than 18,400 rodents and 600 reptiles have been euthanized after being discovered at a breeding business in Lake Elsinore living in squalid conditions, according to animal advocates.

The animals found at Global Captive Breeders were put down during an eight-day investigation and cleanup of a Third Street warehouse.

Teams of 40 to 60 people from various organizations worked 12-hour shifts, sorting through the maggot-ridden carcasses of rodents and reptiles, said Willa Bagwell, executive director of Animal Friends of the valleys, the region’s animal shelter and animal control provider. The surviving animals were eventually deemed by veterinarians to be suffering too much and too dangerous to public health to be saved, she said.

“It’s just been horrendous,” said Bagwell, who said she’d never seen an animal case like it. “You can’t imagine the smell there.”

More than 700 dead rats and reptiles were found.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the operation was the largest seizure of animals ever in California.

The facility’s owner, Mitch Behm, agreed to surrender the live animals and allow them to be euthanized, the city said.

No arrests have been made in the case.

“Authorities are continuing their investigation and working with other agencies in determining next steps,” Lake Elsinore spokesman Justin Carlson said in a statement.

The investigation into animal neglect was sparked by a person working undercover at the facility for PETA, the organization said.

A graphic video posted on PETA’s website shows employees shooting rats with a BB gun and swinging a rat by the tail to bludgeon it on a hard surface. Emaciated reptiles, apparently too weak to move, are seen covered in flies and left to die, according to the text of the video.

The rats, bred and kept as food for reptiles, “were not just doomed to die terrifying, painful deaths inside GCB's walls, but also born into and kept in filth and misery throughout their entire lives,” according to a PETA report.

Live rats were thrown into trash bins to die. Some of the rats drowned in flooded tubs. Others had no water and died of dehydration, according to PETA’s investigator.

The reptiles were kept in dark, opaque bins and slowly starved, the report said. Reptiles transported for sale at trade shows were packed into deli cups and left without food or water for up to a week, the report said. In many cases, it took employees days to notice a reptile had died, PETA said.

The facility employed two full-time workers and one part-timer, PETA said.

PETA Foots The Bill For Virtual Frog Dissection Software In India– via Herp Digest

Techcrunch.com Natasha Lomas , Monday, September 24th, 2012

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is offering to sponsor software that lets students poke around the innards of frogs — without actually, you know, poking around the innards of frogs. The offer is being made to schools and colleges in India that agree to give students a choice of cutting into real or virtual frog flesh — or indeed replacing traditional dissection with other “humane” alternatives.

The software in question — Frog Dissection — is made by Emantras, the company PETA is tying up with for the Indian initiative, and is priced at between $2.99 and $4.99 in the U.S. but will be offered free to classrooms in India that agree to offer non-animal dissection alternatives.

PETA says it’s targeting India for the free software as a follow up to recommendations by the country’sUniversity Grants Commission (UGC) that animal dissection and experimentation should be phased out of labs over the long term. The UGC also recommends software alternatives to dissection should be developed.

“Countless frogs and other animals are killed for dissection, even though non-animal methods for teaching biology are far superior,” noted PETA India Science Policy Adviser, Dr Chaitanya Koduri, in a statement. “PETA India is eager to help universities and schools take the lead in teaching biology using humane, modern methods.”

Emantras’ software is available for PCs, Macs, iPads and interactive whiteboards. Key features are said to include “vivid” 3D imaging”, step-by-step dissection instructions, detailed info on frogs’ organs and “accurate simulation of the wet lab dissection procedure”.

Animal Testing Resumed by Major Makeup Brands, PETA Says

COMMENTARY | Everything old is new again: birth-control debates are in the headlines and, sadly, animal testing, a cruel practice, is back. It is as if someone pushed 2012 into Peabody's Wayback Machine. Here we are revisiting the horror of testing beauty products on docile bunnies and other defenseless animals.

After decades of touting "no animal testing," Avon, Estee Lauder  and Mary Kay have all resumed paying for animal testing, says People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), in order to meet the requirements of the Chinese government. If these big-name companies want to market their products in China, they have to drip chemicals into rabbit's eyes, and worse.

According to the Daily Mail, an Avon spokesman said: "Some select products may be required by law in a few countries to undergo additional safety testing, which potentially includes animal testing, under the directive of a government or health agency."

These defenseless animals are used mainly because they won't fight back as they die. Lab animals are often skinned, blinded, suffer seizures and go mad as they await death trapped in cages. Why do they have to suffer? Simply put, they suffer so cosmetic companies can peddle beauty and vanity to consumers.

It is completely unnecessary to put animals through these ridiculous tests. Animal testing made headlines back in the late '80s and '90s. People signed petitions, made our voices heard and had the testing halted. Estee Lauder and Avon seemingly forgot about the public outcry and when the Chinese government told them they require animal testing for any beauty product sold in China, they complied. Mary Kay reportedly has attempted to work with the government, but the bigger question is why are these companies taking orders from a communist country?

The organization you expect to see in a case like this, PETA, is going to the source. A news release from PETA shows where the organization is focusing efforts: "PETA is financially supporting the efforts of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), which is putting together a coalition of corporate experts, providing training for scientists in China in the use of non-animal test methods, and working with officials there to promote the acceptance of non-animal methods that are used in the U.S., the European Union, and much of the world."

In the meantime, consumers can take a stand. Resuming cruel animal testing for our vanity and their profit is a very backwards step in my opinion. As for this makeup loving girl, I will stick to the small humane companies. Many companies produce effective products without injustice. Aside from supporting companies whose beliefs line up with your own, it is important to make your voice known reports Forbes. If you are against animal testing, let the companies know. Money talks and if enough dollars walk away, they may rethink their policies.

SeaWorld sued over 'enslaved' killer whales

Five killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit which argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans.

A US judge is considering a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (Peta) against SeaWorld.

It is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over whether animals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as humans.

SeaWorld's legal team said the case was a waste of time and resources.

The marine park's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, told the court in San Diego: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the 'We the people'... when the Constitution was adopted."

He said that if the case were successful, it could have implications not just on how other marine parks or zoos operate, but even on the police use of sniffer dogs to detect bombs and drugs.

'Historic case'

Peta says the killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at the SeaWorld parks in California and Florida.

It is not considered likely that the whales will win their freedom, but campaigners said they were pleased the case even made it to a courtroom.

The lawsuit invokes the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which abolished "slavery or involuntary servitude" in the US.

Jeffrey Kerr, the lawyer representing the five whales, said: "For the first time in our nation's history, a federal court heard arguments as to whether living, breathing, feeling beings have rights and can be enslaved simply because they happen to not have been born human.

"By any definition these orcas have been enslaved here."

Hearing the arguments for about an hour, US District Judge Jeffrey Miller raised concerns over whether animals could be represented as plaintiffs in a lawsuit.

He will issue a ruling at a later date.

Peta names the five wild-captured orca plaintiffs as Tilikum and Katina, at SeaWorld Orlando; and Kasatka, Corky, and Ulises, at SeaWorld San Diego.

It is not Tilikum's first time in the media spotlight - he drowned his trainer before horrified spectators in February 2010, prompting a ban on the Florida park's employees entering the water to perform tricks with the orcas.

The same whale has also been linked to two other deaths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16920866

PETA Sues SeaWorld Under US Slavery Law

An animal rights group has sued SeaWorld on behalf of its whales under an American law abolishing slavery.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claim the chain of theme parks violate the rights of killer whales under the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution.

Five performing whales at SeaWorld - Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasatka, and Ulises - are listed as plaintiffs in the complaint.

"All five of these orcas were violently seized from the ocean and taken from their families as babies," said PETA president Ingrid Newkirk.

"They are denied freedom and everything else that is natural and important to them while kept in small concrete tanks and reduced to performing stupid tricks," she said.

SeaWorld San Diego labelled the lawsuit, filed in the city on Tuesday, as "offensive".

A park statement said that PETA's efforts to "extend the Thirteenth Amendment's solemn protections beyond human beings is baseless and in many ways offensive."

David Steinberg, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, called the suit "patently, absolutely frivolous".

"The 13th Amendment abolished the abhorrent, despicable practice of the slavery of human beings," he said.

"PETA is demeaning the integrity and humanity of people who were owned as slaves. That is outrageous."

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring SeaWorld to release the five killer whales to a "suitable habitat".

One of the whales, Tilikum , killed a trainer in Orlando last year by dragging her underwater. The incident raised an outcry about safety and animal rights.

The suit lists PETA and two former SeaWorld employees who have become activists opposing the captivity of marine mammals as "next friends" bringing the suit on behalf of the whales.

PETA, famous for its "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign, has undertaken a number of controversial actions in the past in seeking to advance the cause of animal rights.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/peta-sues-seaworld-under-us-slavery-law-113514843.html

Darnell Dockett vs. PETA: Did He Or Didn't He Buy A Gator?

Did you hear the one about the Cardinal who purchases an alligator?
It's actually not a very funny joke, especially if you're a member of PETA.

Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett recently attracted the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for purchasing an alligator in the Florida Everglades, according to the organization.

But did he? No, according to a witness with whom The Huffington Post spoke.

"Nobody purchases alligators here," said Beverly Mosko, a manager at Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The animals in the park are, in fact, rescues, according to the park manager.

The reports of Dockett's alleged purchase began surfacing after he live blogged a trip to the park. On July 3, Dockett tweeted: "I'm out here messing with these gators in everglades!" He followed that tweet with a photo of himself and a baby alligator that was captioned, "I just bought this! His new name is NINO."

On July 7, PETA sent a letter to Dockett informing him that it had been alerted to his baby alligator purchase and was aware that he intended to "keep him as a captive pet."

The letter detailed the prohibitive laws and regulations against keeping an alligator as a pet, described how the animal would become "neurotic and self-destructive ... because of extreme boredom," and warned, "You would be held liable for any damage, injuries, or illnesses caused by the alligator."


The letter added, "We stand ready to help find a suitable habitat for this animal."

There's only one problem: The purchase, according to Holiday Park, never happened. Instead, Dockett had paid to have his photo taken with the gator and had apparently posted it to Twitter as a joke.

"They charge $5 for people to hold it -- to get their picture with the gator," Mosko said. "What they do with [the picture] after that is up to them. It's just a photo."

According to Mosko, the park was not contacted by PETA to confirm the purchase had taken place.

Dockett's agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post on Monday. The pro-baller is, however, apparently having some fun with PETA, as is evident by several of his Twitter posts.

The Huffington Post spoke with Stephanie Bell, Associate Director of PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department, on Monday afternoon and informed her about the Everglades Holiday Park comments regarding the alligator.

"We are quite relieved to learn that he did not purchase an alligator," Bell said.

"We have concerns about the fact that the photo features an animal whose mouth was shut with electrical tape," she added. "So we will probably want to look into that a little further."

http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/07/11/darnell-dockett-peta-buy-alligator_n_894748.html#s306778

Alliance for Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals File Complaint Over Crimes Against Animals

AFA and PETA filed a complaint with the Dane County District Attorney’s office on June 9, 2011, documenting over a decade of violations of Wisconsin’s Crimes Against Animals stemming from research involving staged animal fights in the Stephen C. Gammie  and the Catherine A. Marler labs.
The Wisconsin statute is easy to understand:

951.08 Instigating fights between animals.

(1) No person may intentionally instigate, promote, aid or abet as a principal, agent or employee, or participate in the earnings from, or intentionally maintain or allow any place to be used for a cockfight, dog fight, bullfight or other fight between the same or different kinds of animals or between an animal and a person. This section does not prohibit events or exhibitions commonly featured at rodeos or bloodless bullfights.

951.08 (2) No person may own, possess, keep or train any animal with the intent that the animal be engaged in an exhibition of fighting.

951.08 (3) No person may intentionally be a spectator at a cockfight, dog fight, bullfight or other fight between the same or different kinds of animals or between an animal and a person.

951.18 Penalties.

951.18 (2) Any person who violates s. 951.08 (2m) or (3) is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Any person who violates s. 951.08 (1) or (2) is guilty of a Class I felony for the first violation and is guilty of a Class H felony for the 2nd or subsequent violation.

Fights between mice have been instigated at the UW-Madison for over a decade. Mice have been kept for this purpose. Mice have been trained through multiple fights with other mice known to be winners or losers. Researchers have earned money from instigating the fights and have paid others in their labs from those earnings. Other university staff and probably students have been spectators at the fights.

Fights between mice are not genteel affairs. Wounding and even death are common results. A BBC video of a fight between mice is available here.


Coming on the heels of the university’s legal problems surrounding the illegal sheep decompression deaths, this new complaint makes clear that the university has a long history of disdain for or ignorance of Wisconsin State laws against cruelty to animals.

The university has now slipped a measure into the state budget bill by way of the University System Omnibus Motion. Item 27:

Liability Protections for Scientific Researchers: Specify that current law provisions prohibiting crimes against animals would not apply to persons engaged in bona fide scientific research at an educational or research institution or persons who are authorized or otherwise regulated under federal law to utilize animals for these purposes.

In short, the University does not want to follow Wisconsin's Crimes Against Animals laws.

What you can (MUST) do:

Contact your state legislators today. Ask them to request a formal Report on Item 27 of the University System Omnibus Motion passed in the Joint Finance Committee as part of the state budget bill.
Don't know your legislators? Click here. It's easy.

Telll them that the language of item 27 is confusing. Are all persons engaged in research at the university exempt from all the state’s anti-cruelty laws all the time wherever they are? Will the university be able to stage dog fights if item 27 becomes law? Tell them that the state has an obligation to regulate the use of animals and protect them from cruelty, especially at the state university.

You can read the complaint here.

http://www.allanimals.org/fighting_mice.html

PETA Calls for Gov't Investigation Into Apparently Illegal Monkey Import Permit

Group Joins Sen. Melinda Romero Donnelly in an Outcry Against Permit Granted to Bioculture Puerto Rico, Inc. 

For Immediate Release:May 31, 2011
Contact:Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382

San Juan, Puerto Rico — Today, PETA fired off an urgent letter to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice calling for a full investigation into an apparently illegal monkey import and export permit granted by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DRNA) to Bioculture Puerto Rico, Inc.—even though it would be illegal for Bioculture to operate in the city where the company is being built. PETA's complaint follows a similar request from Sen. Melinda Romero Donnelly, who states that the DRNA has no legal authority to grant Bioculture a permit to import animals and that the agency has ignored Bioculture's blatant and repeated violations of laws and regulations.

"The DRNA's full embrace of Bioculture is as troubling as it is meaningless," says PETA's Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "No permit could allow Bioculture to follow through with its plans—to tear monkeys away from their homes in the wild, breed them, and sell their babies for use in experiments—because all these shameful acts are illegal in Guayama."

Bioculture hopes to capture more than 4,000 monkeys from Mauritius, confine them to cages at the company's planned Guayama facility, and sell their offspring to U.S. and foreign laboratories for use in painful and deadly experiments. But last year, the Guayama government unanimously adopted municipal ordinances No. 9 and 11, Series 2010–2011, which explicitly ban the import, export, breeding, and use of monkeys in experiments within its territorial boundaries.

In addition, in November 2009, the Puerto Rico Senate Environmental Committee found that Bioculture's facility was improperly built on land that was not zoned for the business's purposes. PETA's challenge of the permit stopped construction. In March 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined Bioculture thousands of dollars for violating the federal Clean Water Act. In October 2010, the Puerto Rico Senate approved R.S. 1514 to "[e]xpress the most forceful objection" to Bioculture's plans and to request that the U.S. government deny "any and all permit request by Bioculture Mauritius … with the purpose of importing Macaca fascicularis into Puerto Rico."

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA honors Guayama mayor for saving monkeys

Bioculture can’t take primates away from home now

March 1, 2011
by Peggy Ann Bliss

When Glorimari Jaime Rodríguez, mayor of Guayama, approved two historic ordinances prohibiting the exportation, breeding and use of monkeys for experiments in her city she put an effective end to the plans of Bioculture Puerto Rico, Inc., to capture more than 4,000 monkeys from the island of Mauritius, confine them cruelly in cages, force them to reproduce in Guayama and sell their progeny to foreign laboratoris to use in painful and lethal experiments. For this effort Mayor Jaime will be honored with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Compassion Award.

"Mayor Jaime knows that Bioculture's plans would have been disastrous for her community and for the animals," said Kathy Guillermo, vice president of PETA's lab research division.

"Thanks to her, there apparently will be no legal road for Bioculture to take the monkeys away from their home in the jungle, raise them in Guayama and sell their offspring to laboratories for cruel experiments."

In addition to the Guayama legislation, last year the Puerto Rico Senate approved a resolution sponsored by Sen. Melinda Romero Donnelly,urging government agencies of the United States to "deny [to Bioculture] any request for a license to import monkeys to Puerto Rico."

The island legislature had simultaneously submitted bills to make it impossible for any other municipality to open its doors to doing business with Bioculture. However, the question could be moot if their importation could be blocked completely.

Animal advocates had complained that in Mauritius, babies were forcefully taken from their mothers before the natural weaning process, causing extreme anxiety and stress. They also point out that while the tests on the animals are not always painful or fatal, monkeys are social animals who cannot survive caging for years. It was also noted that when the testing is completed, the animals usually have nowhere to go and must be euthanized. For more information or to see the prize awarded to Guayama's mayor, visit the Web at PETA.org or the PETA blog.

http://www.prdailysun.com/news/PETA-honors-Guayama-mayor-for-saving-monkeys

Year Of The Rabbit Zodiac Threatens Rabbits In Asia

DENIS D. GRAY 01/27/11 04:58 AM

BANGKOK — Many Asians believe the Year of the Rabbit means good luck for those born under that zodiac sign, but conservationists warn that the furry creatures themselves are being loved to death in Asia and some species are dying away altogether.

As the Lunar New Year approaches, rabbits are being snapped up from pet stores and farms but some are warning that the animals will be dumped once the novelty wears off and the cost and trouble of keeping them kicks in.

"It's believed that feeding rabbits in their zodiac will bring luck in love and everything else, so especially young people are looking for little, cute bunnies," says Piyalak Sariya, owner of the Bunny Delight rabbit farm in Thailand.

Predicting many will eventually be cast off in Buddhist temples and parks, she recommends buying rabbit dolls instead "because these fluffy animals need more care than dogs or cats."

"People think they are small and cute, (but) they are a lot of work. They just can't be stuffed into a cage," says Ashley Fruno, Asia representative for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA.

She says rabbits often live up to 12 years, need space to roam, have fragile physiques and are prone to diseases like cancer, which means hefty veterinarian bills.

The new year – the fourth in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac that is used across Asia – begins Feb. 3.

Fruno said it's not known exactly how many rabbits are being bought because of the New Year.

But she said her group has seen similar trends before, including the scouring of oceans for clownfish after the 2003 release of the animated film "Finding Nemo" and the rush to buy Dalmations – that were subsequently dumped at animal shelters – after movies in the Disney franchise "101 Dalmations."

A far more ominous warning came from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which tracks the health of species worldwide.

IUCN is using the occasion to stress that, despite their reputation as prolific love-makers, nearly one in four rabbits, hares and pikas are threatened with extinction – mostly due to mankind's inroads.

"Year of the Rabbit – species hopping out of view?" asks the Switzerland-based IUCN.

An IUCN report says that several Asian species are under serious siege, as elsewhere, the victims of overhunting, habitat loss, invasive feral animals and viral diseases. These include the Sumatran striped rabbit, hispid hare, Amami rabbit and the Annamite striped rabbit, only discovered by scientists in 1995.

Declines have been rapid and dramatic.

The endangered ili pika has disappeared from half of its previously known locations in northwestern China since it was first described some 30 years ago.

Rabbits and their kin "include some of the most endangered species on the planet," says IUCN's Andrew Smith, adding that their decline often has also been catastrophic to their predators like eagles and lynxes.

Animal activists, and just mere bunny lovers, are hoping the new year will help turn the spotlight on the species' plight.

PETA has launched an ad campaign imploring Chinese movie star Gong Li to curb her penchant for wearing rabbit and other furs and switch to a "kinder wardrobe."

The ad shows a woman's foot stepping on the neck of a dead rabbit next to the words, "Where Does Gong Li Stand on Fur?"

PETA says its investigations have revealed that on rabbit farms in China, the animals are pulled from their cages by their ears and shot in the head with electric stun guns as they kick and scream. The rabbits are then hung upside down and decapitated.

___

Associated Press writers Julia Zappei in Kuala Lumpur and Robin McDowell in Jakarta contributed to this report.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/rabbits-threatened-by-zod_n_814822.html

How 'Chimpus Commercialus' Went From Ad Star to Endangered Species

Pressure From Animal-Rights Groups Has Agencies Pledging Not to Use Great Apes for Ad Entertainment

By Brian Steinberg
Published: February 06, 2011

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- They were once stars. After a rough start in life -- taken from their mothers during infancy -- they found themselves on the national stage, making millions laugh during the Super Bowl. Their careers were short, two or three years at most, and now they've been shunted aside. But they're the lucky ones. Sent to finish out their lives in Florida, the four chimpanzees from the original CareerBuilder Super Bowl ads share a home with Michael Jackson's former pet, Bubbles, at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula. They could have ended up in cages in roadside attractions, or on the nightly news, put down after going on a rampage.

Before this year's Super Bowl, it had likely been years since most Americans had seen a national TV spot featuring an ape. That's because chimpus commercialus and its kin, thanks to pressure put on marketers and ad agencies by animal-rights groups, are on the verge of extinction.


But there are still reminders. After moving away from the use of chimpanzees in its Big Game commercials, CareerBuilder has sparked a minor controversy by reviving interest in the animals that have long been a staple of big-budget TV advertising. CareerBuilder ads in last night's game returned to the theme from the company's memorable efforts in 2005 and 2006: chimpanzees as obstinate, time-wasting cubicle-mates who demonstrate the need for CareerBuilder's online job listings.

Last night's spot could mark the last for this close relative of the monkey that has ridden on Madison Avenue's back for decades.

Eighteen different ad agencies have agreed in the last few years to stop using great apes in the commercials they produce, the result of an ongoing effort started in 2008 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Among the big firms involved are Omnicom Group's BBDO, GSD&M and Merkley & Partners; Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann Erickson, DraftFCB and RPA; Havas' Arnold and Euro RSCG; WPP's Grey Group, Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam and JWT; and Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett.

"The list is only going to grow," said Julia Galluci, a primatologist with PETA who studies the use of apes in commercials.

Indeed, Omnicom's DDB and TBWA/Chiat/Day, two agencies that work for marketers that have made memorable ads with chimps in the past -- Anheuser-Busch InBev and PepsiCo -- are not yet on the list.

PETA also successfully lobbied several major advertisers to modify or pull ads in 2010 when apes were featured. Pfizer edited out an orangutan used in a commercial crafted by Grey Group for its Robitussin, and decided instead to incorporate a digital image of a chimp. Dodge, AT&T and Travelers Insurance made similar moves after PETA's approach.

For its part, CareerBuilder, which created its ad in-house, said it has treated the animals involved in this year's Super Bowl plans well. "During the production of our ad, we followed the strictest guidelines to ensure our chimpanzee stars were treated well and not harmed in any way. We hired top trainers known to provide the highest standard of care for their animals. We also had a member of an animal rights group, the American Humane Association, on set during the entire filming to ensure the chimpanzees were treated with respect," the company said in a statement. "This was very important to us."

But it's not the treatment of the animals on set that is the main concern from animal-rights groups. Rather, it's the procurement and disposal of apes for acting.

Apes in the wild stay with their mothers for nearly the first decade of life, and typically nurse for the first five or six years, said Patti Ragan, founder and director of the Center for Great Apes, the private sanctuary that hosts those four CareerBuilder chimps as well as Bubbles. But to work on an ad, movie or TV program, a chimp or orangutan needs to be under the age of 8. When they pass that age, she said, "they are too dangerous and strong to work around humans" and are therefore retired. Caring for the animals after they can no longer work on shoots can require something in the neighborhood of $20,000 a year, she estimated.

Heartstring-plucking details such as these are likely not immediately clear to the consumers who thrill to monkeyshines in TV pitches. And even those who protect the chimps admit that there has been no consumer outrage. If it did, the animals wouldn't show up year after year in the Super Bowl, the nation's broadest advertising showcase.

Great apes have appeared in 10 different ads tailored for the Big Game since 2000, according to research from students of Chuck Tomkovick, a professor of marketing at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who has studied Super Bowl ads for years. There's good reason: Mr. Tomkovick's recent research suggests that placing any sort of an animal in an ad increases its likability.

The ad industry's eagerness to distance itself from chimps and their cousins comes even though capturing consumer attention with TV ads has become increasingly difficult. And it arrives despite the fact consumers are more likely to stop and notice chimps and apes when spotted on the TV screen. Chimps and apes have particular appeal, said Barbara J. King, an anthropology professor at the College of William and Mary, who has studied apes and monkeys in the wild and in U.S. zoos for 30 years.

"They are like us, but they're not like us," she said. "It's exactly that strange paradox that grabs people."

Further, when it comes to convincing consumers that apes need protecting, there is a perception problem. "It looks to me like these commercials are making these animals seem cute and perfectly well-cared for," said Ms. King, the anthropology professor. "It's not clear to me from the surface of it why consumers would necessarily be concerned unless someone tells them the back story."

And PETA has been relaying that story to ad-agency executives to some effect. "The cruelty of separating baby apes from their mothers, the brutal training, and the tragic 'retirement' provide a real incentive not to use them," said Andrew Robertson, president-CEO of BBDO Worldwide.

"They are cute. They behave like humans. They are cuddly," said Tony Granger, global chief creative officer at Young & Rubicam. "But what really does it for me is understanding that the apes are taken away from their mothers. We honestly didn't know any of this."

PETA expects to press its case, Ms. Galluci said. The organization is in early talks with BBDO to create an ad campaign aimed at ad-industry employees and make them aware of the problems with using live apes in ad shoots. "It's the agencies that are writing the stories, writing the scripts for these ads," she said. Once agency executives hear the details about the simians, she added, "they are really quick to agree" not to use them any longer. Whether the entire industry apes the move remains to be seen.

http://adage.com/superbowl/article?article_id=148714

Elephant kills trainer at Pennsylvania circus

(CNN) -- Tragedy struck at a Pennsylvania circus Friday after a startled
elephant stomped its trainer to death, police said.

People at the Irem Shrine in Wilkes-Barre, which has been hosting the James Hamid Circus all week, rushed to help but not before the trainer sustained life-threatening injuries, said police Lt. Steven Oshefski.

It was unclear what spooked the elephant, but the pachyderm was calmed by those on the scene.

The victim is not being identified until next-of-kin have been notified, Oshefski said.

The incident was classified as a workplace accident and the investigation has been turned over to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A balloon vendor at the circus told CNN affiliate WBRE that the death was shocking.

"In the 30 years I've been doing my vending, I've never heard an animal killing their trainer and all," said Ed Conrad. "So something must have happened."

Oshefski said the elephant came into contact with electrical wires, but it was unclear what exactly startled the animal. Animal rights activists decried the use of animals in circuses. "It should come as no surprise that elephants and other animals sometimes snap and attack circus employees and members of the public," said Robbyn
Brooks of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

"PETA has obtained shocking photos and video of circus trainers as they beat elephants and subject them to violent training methods using barbaric devices such as bullhooks," Brooks said. Circus members observed a moment of silence for the elephant handler who died, WBRE reported. The circus, however, made a decision almost immediately after the death that the performance would go on.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/10/circus.worker.elephant/index.html