Kategorie: Animals

An alligator attack during a child’s birthday party at Scales and Tails Utah on Saturday has led PETA to send a letter this morning to the outfit’s owner, Shane Richins, and launched an online petition calling on him to send all the animals to reputable facilities and shutter the shop, which is not in line with current thinking on wild animals and poses a risk to humans, who shouldn’t be touching them in the first place.

Harrowing video footage from the incident shows an alligator clamping down on a handler’s hand, dragging her into the pool, and locking her in a death roll as watching children scream in fear. A guest ran into the enclosure and was able to rescue the woman. After several tense moments, the guest was able to escape from the pool, too.

“Encouraging people to pay to see an apex predator used as a birthday party prop is greed courting disaster,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Debbie Metzler. “PETA is calling on this dangerous business to let these wild animals go to facilities where they could have good lives in an appropriate habitat and be respected enough to be left in peace.”

In nature, alligators swim great distances and can reach speeds of up to 20 mph. They are naturally fearful of humans and would rather flee than fight. In petting zoos, they’re confined to enclosures that are just a fraction of the size of their natural habitats and subjected to continual, unwanted human contact, which can make them aggressive—and teaches visitors nothing about the animals’ natural behavior.

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

The post Near Fatality at ‘Scales and Tails Utah’ Brings PETA Call for Shutdown appeared first on PETA.

“Feel the beets. Lose the meats.” That’s the vegan-positive message from PETA and legendary music producer Jermaine Dupri that’s displayed on two new billboards in the Big Apple, and the animal rights group will be giving out free seitan BBQ wings under the one in Times Square on Sunday. The hip-hop legend—whose other PETA billboard is now up in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights—first went vegan over a decade ago and praises the lifestyle for improving his health and providing an energy boost.

“Whether it’s a slice of seitan or a bowl of beets, vegan food spares gentle animals slaughter,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s can’t-miss billboards should strike a chord with anyone who cares about animals and wants to feel their best.”

When:    Sunday, August 22, 3 p.m.

Where:    1500 Broadway, New York

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 ‘Gotta Getcha’ … to Go Vegan! PETA Giveaway to Kick Off Jermaine Dupri Ads appeared first on PETA.

Because the United Nations (U.N.) climate panel has warned that widespread reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions are needed to forestall a “code red for humanity,” PETA Honorary Director (and former Baywatch star) Pamela Anderson is once again racing to save lives—this time in real life—by dispatching PETA to Jacksonville with Methane Offset Starter Kits to help locals clean up their act by going vegan.

PETA supporters will deliver the kits—which contain emissions-slashing vegan foods, including tofu and nondairy creamer—to city officials and give them away to passersby on Thursday. The U.N. has reported that a global shift to vegan eating is required to combat the worst effects of climate change, to which Jacksonville is especially vulnerable: It’s expected to face more frequent severe floods as temperatures climb.

“Farmers must move away from animal agriculture, and governments must act—but until they do, we have to take personal responsibility to try to save the Earth and future generations, and going vegan is a great step in that direction,” says Anderson, who went vegan years ago. “PETA’s kit is a powerful lifesaver for humans, other animals, and this planet.”

When:    Thursday, August 19, 12 noon

Where:    932 Park St. (at the intersection with Post Street), Jacksonville

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 Pamela Anderson Partners With PETA to Donate ‘Code Red’ Climate Crisis Kits in Jacksonville appeared first on PETA.

After PETA alerted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the dire state of animal care at Spring River Park & Zoo, the agency cited the city-owned roadside zoo for failing to meet the minimal requirements of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Spring River’s violations include failing to provide the equipment needed to treat a stumbling, underweight longhorn steer with overgrown hooves and failing to maintain structurally sound enclosures, which allowed a black bear and a beaver to escape, the latter of whom was never found. The agency also cited the roadside zoo for lacking an exercise plan for a wolf-dog hybrid, an enrichment plan for ring-tailed lemurs, and adequate records for the incoming transfer of two black bears and a mountain lion.

These violations come years after the city unveiled a “master plan,” almost none of which has come to fruition, to improve Spring River. The two bears are still confined to an archaic concrete pit; the bobcat, foxes, coati, and ring-tailed lemurs remain in cramped corncrib cages; and the mountain lion was moved to a new enclosure that’s still mostly barren and too small and otherwise inadequate to meet his needs.

“Roswell has had every opportunity to improve its conditions for animals, yet this facility continues to violate federal law,” says PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA is calling on officials either to fulfill their pledge or require Spring River to relinquish the animals to reputable facilities, where they will be cared for at last.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—recently sent a letter to Mayor Dennis Kintigh urging him to block Spring River’s appalling plans to acquire even more animals. The group also renewed its offer to donate funds to improve the roadside zoo—if the city agrees to let the bears be transferred to an accredited sanctuary, which it has so far refused to do.

PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Feds Cite Local Roadside Zoo After PETA Flags Ailing Animals appeared first on PETA.

The post Urge RUDSAK to Go Fur-Free! appeared first on PETA.