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Horse slaughter proponents are taking steps to open horse slaughter plants in the United States. Unless citizens object, horses may soon be commercially slaughtered in our communities for human consumption overseas. There is already a slaughterhouse in New Mexico being considered for government approval to slaughter horses.

According to a national poll conducted in January 2012, 80% of Americans are strongly against horse slaughter. Americans do not raise horses for food or eat horse meat. Horse slaughter will benefit only foreign-owned corporations who profit by catering to overseas specialty markets. These corporations have no regard for the welfare of our nation’s horses or the communities we call home.Horse slaughter plants are not clean/green enterprises. They are an economic and environmental nightmare: polluting local water supplies, lowering property values and filling the air with a foul stench.

Five years after the closure of a horse slaughter plant in Kaufman, Texas, the community is still trying to recover from the damage that the plant caused.Finally, horse slaughter is not humane and it is not euthanasia. The USDA found that more than 92% of all horses sent to slaughter are in good condition! Many horses sent to slaughter would have gone to good homes or sanctuaries had they not fallen into the hands of “kill buyers” who outbid potential adopters. Before the last U.S. horse slaughterhouses closed in 2007, USDA investigative documents revealed routine brutality at these facilities. Read the full article »

Every year, tens of thousands of non-human primates are transported from countries such as China, Mauritius, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia to the EU and US to be imprisoned in laboratories and tormented in experiments. Some are bred in captivity in cramped, squalid monkey factory farms, while others are stolen from their families in the wild.

The traumatised monkeys are crammed into small wooden crates and transported in the backs of trucks and the dark and terrifying cargo holds of planes, often on passenger flights just below unsuspecting customers.  In the UK, more than 2,000 monkeys are imported from beyond the borders of the EU each year, while according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, nearly 23,000 non-human primates were brought into the US in 2010 – nearly all of them destined for laboratories. Nearly 3,000 monkeys were imported by animal testing conglomerate Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories, where recent photos and video footage leaked by a whistleblower show sick, distraught monkeys suffering horribly from tests in which they were injected with experimental chemicals. Read the full article »

PANAJI: A few fresh water terrapins escaped from ending up as a delicacy on somebody’s dinner table as wildlife activities rescued them from poachers at a spring in Acoi, Mapusa on Sunday. Four persons from Fatorda have been arrested after a wildlife activist alerted his Bicholim-based NGO, animal rescue squad, and the volunteers rushed to the site along with forest department officials.

A total of 21 turtles in a cement bag were seized from the four persons from their vehicle. “Eight of them are Indian soft or flap-shelled turtle species (Lisemys punctata) and 13 belong to Indian snail-eating turtle species (Melanochelys trijuga),” World Wide Fund for Nature, Goa, director Nitin Sawant said. ”The accused had reached the spring quite early and were trying to leave the scene with the catch,” Amrut Singh of animal rescue squad said.

Fresh water terrapins face slaughter after they emerge from their hibernation towards the approach of monsoon. “They are considered a delicacy in Goa and are consumed all over the state, especially Pernem, Sattari and coastal areas,” Sawant said. The soft-shelled species come under Schedule 1 (part 2) and the snail eating species under Schedule 4 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. “Though their shell feels hard if knocked, they are called soft shelled due to the soft skin or coating over it,” Campal range forest officer (wildlife) Amar Heblekar said. Read the full article »

The exotic “pet” trade is big business. Selling protected wildlife in stores, auctions, or on the Internet is one of the largest sources of criminal earnings, behind only arms smuggling and drug trafficking. But the animals pay the price. Many don’t survive the journey from their homes, and those who do survive often suffer in captivity and die prematurely from malnutrition, an unnatural and uncomfortable environment, loneliness, and the overwhelming stress of confinement.

Animals destined for the pet trade are yanked from their homes in places such as Australia, Africa, and Brazil and are subjected to grueling transport. Parrots may have their beaks and feet taped and be stuffed into plastic tubes that can easily be hidden in luggage, and stolen bird and reptile eggs are concealed in special vests so that couriers can bypass X-ray machines at airports. Baby turtles have been trapped inside their shells with tape and shoved by the dozen into tube socks, and infant pythons have been shipped in CD cases. Many die before reaching their destinations.

IGNORANCE BREEDS MISERY

In the hands of unprepared or incompetent caretakers, many exotic animals die or are abandoned. The head of the Environmental Crime Investigation unit in Western Cape, South Africa, estimates that 90 percent of exported reptiles die within a year.

Animal control authorities confiscated a crippled cougar cub from a Buffalo, New York, basement. The animal, kept by a teenager, had been fed a diet deficient in calcium and, as a result, suffered from deformed legs. Hedgehogs, who roll themselves into tight balls, can easily become injured if children try to “uncurl” them or if cats attack them. Sugar gliders are very social animals, and if they are not given enough attention, they may self-mutilate or die from the stress of loneliness. Read the full article »

Chimpanzees, bears, tigers, elephants, and other animals aren’t actors, spectacles to imprison and gawk at, or circus clowns. Yet thousands of these animals are forced to perform silly, confusing tricks under the threat of physical punishment; are carted around the country in cramped and stuffy boxcars or semi-truck trailers; are kept chained or caged in barren, boring, and filthy enclosures; and are separated from their families and friends all for the sake of human “entertainment.” Many of these animals even pay with their lives.

Animals are used extensively in the entertainment industry, including in circuses; zoos and pseudo-sanctuaries; marine parks; the exotic “pet” trade; advertisements, television shows, and movies;cruel “sports” such as bullfighting, rodeo events, and horse racing; and more. Businesses that exploit animals exist to make money, so the animals’ needs are usually put last.

Bears, elephants, tigers, and other animals used in circuses do not voluntarily ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. To force them to perform these confusing and physically demanding tricks, trainers use bullhooks, whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, and other painful tools of the trade. When they’re not performing, elephants are often kept shackled by two legs, and lions, tigers, bears, primates, and other animals are forced to eat, sleep, and relieve themselves in tiny cages. Read the full article »

The coldhearted and cruel down industry often plucks geese alive in order to get their down the soft layer of feathers closest to a bird’s skin. These feathers are used to produce clothing and comforters, but for geese, the down industry’s methods are anything but comfortable.Undercover video footage shows employees on goose farms pulling fistfuls of feathers out of live birds, often causing bloody wounds as the animals shriek in terror. The frightened animals are often squeezed upside down between workers’ knees during the painful procedure in one instance, an investigator photographed a worker who was sitting on a goose’s neck in order to prevent her from escaping.

Live plucking causes birds considerable pain and distress. Once their feathers are ripped out, many of the birds, paralyzed with fear, are left with gaping wounds some even die as a result of the procedure. Workers often sew the birds’ skin back together without using any anesthetics. That’s not all buying down can also support the cruelty of the foie gras and meat industries because many farmers who raise birds for food make an extra profit by selling their feathers as well. When these birds are slaughtered, they often have their throats cut or are dumped into tanks of scalding-hot water while they’re still conscious.

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