Kategorie: Animals

After PETA submitted a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stating that a WZVN-TV news crew entered an enclosure with a 300-pound bear named Carroll at Bearadise Ranch, just-released documents reveal that the agency recently slapped the roadside zoo’s owner, Monica Welde, with a “critical” citation and an official warning for allegedly violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.

The USDA inspection report notes that the news crew entered the enclosure, the camera operator petted Carroll on the head, and both the reporter and the camera operator fed her honey. According to the report, “At no time was there a physical barrier present or a physical method of constraint strong enough to protect the public members from harm.”

“Considering all the stress this 300-pound bear has endured already, allowing a news crew to touch and feed her could have turned deadly,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Debbie Metzler. “PETA will continue to keep a close eye on this seedy outfit, whether its exploits happen behind closed doors or wind up on the local news.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) also slapped Welde with a misdemeanor citation over the same incident following a tip from PETA. The FWC had previously warned her for a violation of the state’s captive wildlife laws after she forced Carroll to perform as a ring bearer during a wedding ceremony. Just last year, the USDA cited Welde after her traveling show, Bears of Bearadise Ranch, unleashed a bear during a performance and later failed to stop the animal from running across the arena while members of the public were still nearby.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Feds Take Aim at Bearadise Ranch After TV Crew Feeds 300-Lb. Bear appeared first on PETA.

Below, please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo concerning the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s (HISA) inability to agree on terms with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)—which is the best entity to conduct a comprehensive anti-doping system—and opting for a five-year contract with Drug Free Sport International instead:

HISA hasn’t even begun enforcing drug rules, and it’s already failing. The federal legislation was intended to protect horses, and USADA was integral to that. Instead, HISA is following the racing industry’s old, self-destructive pattern of weakening oversight. Crippling the legislation is equivalent to killing horses, and it must be stopped.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post PETA Statement: Drug Free Sport International Contract With HISA appeared first on PETA.

After PETA shared with Overstock.com a badger-hair industry exposé showing badgers spinning in circles inside dirty cages before workers slit their throats, the locally based company just banned and removed all badger-hair products from its site. In thanks, Overstock.com will receive delicious vegan chocolates from PETA.

“On badger-hair farms, these animals are deprived of the opportunity to dig, forage for food, choose mates, or do anything else that would make their lives worthwhile,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “By scrubbing its site of badger-hair products and implementing this ban, Overstock.com is helping PETA protect badgers from abuse.”

PETA Asia’s investigation into the Chinese badger-hair industry revealed that badgers exhibit behavior patterns indicative of severe psychological distress, such as pacing back and forth. Many badgers suffered from untreated injuries, and one was even missing a leg. Slaughterhouse workers beat screaming badgers over the head with anything that they could find, including a chair leg, before slitting their throats. Other badgers are captured illegally using snares, even though they are a protected species.

Procter & Gamble, the parent company of The Art of Shaving, was the first company to ban badger-hair items after the release of PETA Asia’s video, and nearly 100 others have followed suit, including L’Oréal, Morphe, The New York Shaving Company, Beau Brummell, NARS, and Bonanza. Overstock.com’s ban on badger hair is the latest addition to its long list of animal-friendly bans—including on fur, mohair, angora, alpaca, and exotic skins.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Victory! Overstock.com Bans Badger Hair After PETA Push appeared first on PETA.

The post Alex Morgan: Dogs Are Family appeared first on PETA.

“I’m ME, not MEAT.” That’s the message from a school of fish and other sea animals that’s been plastered on every wall of the Civic Center/UN Plaza BART station, near several restaurants that serve seafood. PETA has taken over the station to encourage everyone to skip the seafood and go vegan—which is easy to do in the Bay Area.

“Behind every fish fillet or crab cake is an inquisitive animal who wanted to live and felt pain and fear, just as we do,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to keep sea life off their plates and opt for San Francisco’s delicious vegan cuisine instead.”

Fish are known to feel pain as acutely as mammals do, have long-term memories, and even sing underwater. Choosing vegan seafood—such as Bay Area–based Current Foods’ vegan tuna and salmon and Kuleana’s vegan tuna—helps prevent fish from being gutted on the decks of fishing boats, live lobsters from being dropped into boiling water, crabs from being dismembered while still conscious, and octopuses from being cut up while still conscious. Plus, vegan fare is free of saturated animal fat and cholesterol as well as kinder to the Earth’s seas.

PETA’s BART station takeover also encourages everyone to watch Seaspiracy, which exposes the widespread environmental destruction caused by the global fishing industry—including that fishing gear makes up an estimated 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The ads are located inside the Civic Center/UN Plaza BART station (1150 Market St.).

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post ‘Sea Animals’ Take Over BART Station, Courtesy of PETA appeared first on PETA.