The Southwick’s Zoo has a history of using elephants for performances and rides during the summer months. Before Dondi, an elephant named Judy was leased from the notorious Hawthorn Corporation (one of the many elephants the company was forced to relinquish due to serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act). She died in 2007, and was found to have tuberculosis.

Dondi, who is “owned” by Phil Schacht, also was used for performances and to give rides at the Southwick’s Zoo during the summer. During the winter, she performed and gave rides at places like Flea World, a giant flea market and amusement park in Florida. It was a sad and unnatural life for an elephant.

Because of the unusual nature of Dondi’s death and the fact that she was in contact with the public, IDA has asked the USDA to investigate the circumstances surrounding it as a matter of public interest and public safety. Elephants can harbor diseases transmissible to humans, including tuberculosis, which can be difficult to detect. Release of the records would hopefully allay any public health concerns.

In a separate letter sent to Southwick’s Zoo President Justine Brewer, IDA urged the zoo to publicly release Dondi’s veterinary records and necropsy reports, saying, “The public has a right to know the cause of Dondi’s death.”

IDA further appealed to the zoo to end the practice of displaying elephants, as its tiny exhibit utterly fails to meet elephants’ needs. Dondi was held alone, in a small circle of dirt with no shade and no access to a pool. Elephants are highly social animals who, in the wild, live in large family groups in which females remain with their mothers for life. Asian elephants have a natural lifespan of 60-70 years. Recent scientific studies show that elephants in zoos die decades earlier than those in relatively protected wild populations.

What you can do

1. You can help ensure that the Southwick’s Zoo does not replace Dondi with another elephant by emailing the zoo president Justine Brewer at Justine@southwickszoo.com. Please be polite, as we are trying to convince Ms. Brewer to take this positive action. Tell her that the zoo should hold itself to a higher standard and do away with circus style elephant performances and rides that do nothing to educate the public about elephants’ natural lives.

2. If you live near enough to attend a demo at the Southwick’s Zoo, please contact Melissa at melissa275@netzero.com. A vigil is planned for Sunday, August 1^st at the zoo.

Wild horses gallop in the Rocky Hills HMA, southeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada. PHOTO CREDIT : USAToday

Despite tremendous public opposition and legal actions the Department of Interior is moving forward with the ill-conceived plan to remove more than 6,000 wild horses and burros from our public lands by October 2010. The Obama Administration’s policy has proven to be both deadly and devastating for wild horses. The Calico Complex roundup, which IDA fought in federal court, has to date taken the lives of 186 horses including 30 foals who have died and 40 spontaneous abortions as reported by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
On July 10, 2010 the BLM began this horrific roundup of wild horses in the summer desert heat in northeast Nevada – the Tuscarora Complex roundup. (See USA Today article.) The BLM reports, given the lack of public access to observe there is no way to verify any BLM-provided information, that 22 wild horses have been killed at the trap site and three have died at the holding facilities. After a lawsuit was filed by Nevada horse advocate Laura Leigh, the BLM began to claim the first part of the Tuscarora roundup (in the Owyhee herd management area) was a “rescue” operation – claiming there was not enough water on the range and that horses were dehydrating. Just last week, IDA had a representative on the ground in Owyhee and observed water, cows and plenty of fencing in and around the Owyhee area.

If dry conditions were so severe one would expect wildlife and cows to be suffering from the same dehydration – yet this was not the case. Rather only wild horses were in need of “rescue.” As one local rancher told IDA – antelope and other wildlife can get under and over fencing, but wild horses cannot. If a need to “rescue” horses occurred – it was clearly a BLM-created problem.

Indeed, in mid-May, the BLM conducted an on-the-ground observation at Owyhee; the promotional video resulting from it, actually titled “Extreme Terrain Requires Extreme Diligence,” stated among other things that “There is little water available to sustain more than 800 horses.” (Also see transcript.) Meanwhile, the BLM warned in its own Environmental Assessment that “Given the dry conditions and the expanding wild horse numbers, along with the limited perennial water sources in the Owyhee HMA, the BLM has a very strong concern that wild horses could suffer from dehydration and possible death in the Owyhee HMA this summer” to justify the disastrous July 10 roundup.

Clearly, the BLM should have taken actions (i.e. fence removal, water delivery, etc.) to mitigate any possible problems. The Tuscarora situation is a classic case whereby the BLM refuses to conduct on-the-range management and reverts to the roundup-removal practice which has already been acknowledged by the Interior Secretary to be an unsustainable practice.  In the case of the horses at Owhyee, just like the horses at Calico, the result is needless suffering and death. Thanks to this broken system, we have more wild horses in government holding facilities (36,000) than free on the range (33,000).

In addition to the BLM-created problem in Tuscarora, the BLM proceeded with using helicopters to roundup these horses in summer-desert temperatures while foals continue to be born. This means newborns and weeks-old foals and still-pregnant mares were run up to eight miles in desert heat. IDA has called for a moratorium on summer roundups and filed an administrative appeal to stop the Tuscarora roundup. We recently received the denial on the appeal and are reviewing our legal options.

We knew fighting the deeply-entrenched BLM would not be easy. We pledge to all the wild horses and burros who have lost their lives, families and freedom that we will continue to fight until these magnificent beings are truly protected and finally given their fair share of our public lands.

Stay tuned for our next action alert – another step in this long fight to bring about the change these animals deserve and need.

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services continue to systematically round up and exterminate entire flocks of resident Canada geese all over the country, IDA is calling on every one of our supporters to get involved to stop this needless killing.  In 2010, thousands of innocent Canada geese across the country have been or will be gassed to death or sent to slaughterhouses if we do not take action to stop it. Since non-lethal population control programs for resident Canada geese have proven successful throughout the country, the USDA must change course and switch to non-lethal, humane, and progressive population control.

Every person I have spoken with, whether they be in New Jersey or New York, has been outraged, horrified or saddened by the eradication of geese in their communities.  Many are sickened that the slaughter occurred despite public protest or without considering the interests of the vast number of residents who enjoy the presence of the geese in the parks. Of course, the lack of consideration of the interests of the geese themselves is even more disturbing.

IDA has produced another video highlighting the negative impacts of the USDA’s lethal course of action against geese. Click here to watch the video.

IDA encourages you to act to protect Canada geese in your community by contacting your city manager’s office to request a copy of their goose management plan.  Also, please click here to send an e-mail to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, asking him to immediately end the slaughter of Canada geese.

With the help of each and every one of IDA’s supporters, we can make a positive difference for the Canada geese who call the United States home.

IDA's Bill Dyer Leads Protesters at The Greatest Circus on Earth

History was made in Los Angeles last night. In the biggest circus demonstration the city has ever seen, 300 activists holding graphic signs and colorful banners and wearing elephant costumes and symbolic chains, encircled the Staples Center to protest the opening night of Ringling. Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The mood was electric as energized activists handed out thousands of leaflets and stickers and educated the public about the suffering of animals in circuses, where they are chained and confined to cramped cages, shipped around the country for 50 weeks a year, and cruelly trained to perform unnatural tricks.

No matter what direction circus customers approached the venue from, they had to walk a gauntlet of protesters passing out descriptive flyers and telling them of the horrors animals endure for their “entertainment.” At least two families decided not to attend after learning the truth about the animals’ miserable lives with Ringling.

A mountain of evidence against Ringling Bros. Circus, including court transcripts, videos and still images, and the testimonies of former Ringling employees, clearly demonstrates that the cruelty has been going on for years and still continues today. The most recent video depicts Ringling workers hitting elephants in the face with bullhooks before performances and whipping tigers during training.

IDA and a variety of animal protection organizations were represented at the peaceful protest, and their message was united: It’s time to end the use of animals in circuses.

Across the United States, Canada Geese are being exterminated, in horribly cruel ways.  IDA is asking: why? Besides the inhumanity of the slaughter, past experience proves that the killings will not have the desired effect.

Brooklyn, New York residents learned this past Monday that 400 Canada Geese from Prospect Park were killed by gassing, and sent to a landfill. Last summer, 1,237 geese were killed and sent to landfill from 17 sites around Brooklyn.  This year, the USDA estimates they will kill the same number.  These extermination programs do not work, since more geese come to occupy the newly available territory.

The communities call in the USDA to do the dirty work because Canada Geese are migratory birds, thus supposedly protected under the Migratory Bird Act. But we’re seeing that rather than being protected by the USDA, they need to be protected FROM the USDA!

In June, Mount Laurel Township in New Jersey contracted with the USDA to round up and gas 133 Canada Geese. See our news release on this slaughter here. The act angered local residents who were adamantly opposed to lethal control measures. Not surprisingly, the government-approved and conducted slaughter also motivated some sick individuals to begin their own extermination program.  On Sunday July 11, more than 30 geese and ducks near the same neighborhoods were found mutilated and dead or barely breathing. IDA president Scotlund Haisley and actress Elaine Hendrix addressed Mount Laurel officials at the township council meeting to pledge a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for this latest slaughter.

Click here to view a short IDA video about the Mount Laurel Canada Geese slaughter.

Amid a growing number of complaints from residents nationwide outraged over city officials authorizing the USDA to cull entire flocks of Canada geese from community lakes and parks, IDA is stepping up to empower animal advocates with the knowledge they need to stop such grossly inhumane and ultimately ineffectual programs. In addition to the terrible suffering and death each of these wild geese experience, the participating cities will have to continue intervening year after year to keep their parks geese-free.  Instead of killing Canada geese, they can embark on a non-lethal program which would produce long term benefits and is humane.

Please stay tuned for more updates on this important issue. If you have a lake or pond in your community with geese or ducks, please contact your city official to examine their management plans. If you find they are exterminating the birds, contact IDA for advice.

Photo Credit : Tiki Hywood Trust

IDA has two new “Breaking News” items featured on www.HelpElephants.com that just by chance have a common thread (besides the fact they’re about elephants), and that’s the African nation of Zimbabwe.

We reported on an elephant named Nosey, who was traumatically torn from her family and shipped to the U.S. before she was even two years old – an age at which elephant babies are still nursing and enjoying the love and protection of their mother and herd. Nosey instead was sold into the circus, where she lost everything natural to an elephant: family, room to freely roam, companionship and freedom of choice. Since 1988, Nosey has endured a life of hardship and abuse, forced to give performances and rides with trainer Hugo Liebel and the Florida State Family Circus. (Though sometimes the circus and Nosey travel under different names.) Despite the fact that elephants are highly social and require the company of other elephants, Nosey has been held alone for 22 years.

IDA sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, detailing the abuse and negligent treatment to which Nosey has been subjected for more than two decades and called on the agency to confiscate her now. Read IDA’s letter to the USDA here. While it appears that the agency is more closely monitoring Nosey’s situation, historically it has waited far too long to remove elephants who are in dire condition and suffering greatly. Our question is: How much more “monitoring” will it take to persuade the USDA that Nosey’s lengthy history of neglect and abuse will continue only as long as they allow it? You can take for action for Nosey by clicking here. You’ll find an easy click ‘n’ send letter directed at the USDA.

On a happier note, we have a great victory to report. Two elephant calves from Zimbabwe have avoided a captive fate and will remain in their native country. The government has called off a wildlife sale that would have sent two wild-caught, 18-month-old elephants, as well as giraffe, zebra, hyena, monkeys and birds, to a zoo in North Korea.

We are told that the majority of the captured animals have been released back into the wild through the efforts of wildlife groups in Zimbabwe, with the support of the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. The two young elephants cannot be released immediately but will be integrated into a herd of other rescued elephants at the Wild Horizons Wildlife Trust and later released into the wild.

While many people were angered by news of the sale, it appears that the government’s intentions were to raise badly needed funds to cut critical fire-breaks in Hwange National Park, where many of the animals were caught. Reportedly, the Zimbabwean government does not intend to undertake another similar capture.

This blog may focus on elephants but I wanted to share a warm story about two young hyena who had been caught for the sale to North Korea. Though they had been confined for two weeks in a holding boma, their parents stayed near, calling for them. When it came time to free them, the youngsters were released directly into Hwange National Park and back to their waiting parents. While hyena may not appear as “warm and fuzzy” to people as baby elephants or other animals, this story shows the depth and importance of family ties to a range of species – and how easily man can destroy those relationships.

You can see photos and read more reports about the wildlife release at this link and this link.

Please be sure to thank Zimbabwe’s prime minister for stopping the export and urge him to permanently ban the capture of wild for captivity. Get more information here and send your thank-you by clicking here.

We’d like to clarify the outcome of this litigation, further explain why the judge dismissed the lawsuit, and describe why we believe that this groundbreaking case bodes very well for any future litigation.

Judge Friedman’s dismissal of the lawsuit (the ruling can be read here) was based on plaintiffs’ lack of standing – the legal right to issue a lawsuit.  Judge Friedman’s dismissal had nothing whatsoever to do with the merits of the case. In his December 23, 2009 opinion denying plaintiffs’ request for a Preliminary Injunction (decision is here), Judge Friedman did rule, pending further briefing, that BLM’s practice of holding wild horses in long-term holding was likely illegal. He stated that “BLM’s use of long-term holding facilities runs counter to the statute’s mandate that the agency’s management of wild horses occur at ‘the minimal feasible level.’ 16 U.S.C. § 1333(a). Long-term maintenance of thousands of horses in holding pens constitutes intensive management that was not contemplated by Congress when the Wild Horse Act was passed.”  The Judge further wrote, “BLM’s proposed confinement of hundreds or thousands of horses from the Calico Mountains Complex in long-term holding facilities in other states thus appears to contravene the unambiguous intent of Congress as expressed in statutory text and legislative history.” His opinion relied on the statute’s clear, unambiguous prohibition on relocating wild horses and burros to areas of the public lands where they did not exist in 1971 (the year the statute became law).

In light of this Judge Friedman wrote that “the agency’s best option might be to postpone the gather,” although he did go on to elucidate the potential problems with such a postponement. As we know, that postponement did not happen and today over 1,800 Calico wild horses are confined at a BLM facility in Fallon, Nevada. Over 100 horses have died as a result of the roundup and more than 40 heavily pregnant mares had spontaneous abortions – the vast majority died at the Fallon facility.

It’s important to note that Judge Friedman’s May 24, 2010 final ruling “assumes, without deciding, that plaintiffs’ rather conclusory allegations suffice” for legal standing in regards to the roundup and removal of the Calico horses, but that plaintiffs had not established standing with regards to the relocation to long-term holding of the horses. Because the Judge did not issue an injunction stopping the roundup and removal of the horses from Calico and that these actions had already occurred, he determined the roundup and removal issues were moot. The judge determined plaintiffs had not satisfactorily established standing regarding long-term holding, stating that “Their [plaintiffs’] asserted injury results from the removal of wild horses from the Complex, not from the placement of removed horses in long-term holding facilities.”  He further stated that “plaintiffs’ asserted injuries are not sufficiently connected or ‘traceable’ to the agency action in question,” which was the long-term holding issue. These are the reasons for the Judge’s decision to dismiss the case – mootness for a roundup that the Court refused to enjoin, and the Court’s finding that plaintiffs had probably established standing for roundup and removal, but not for relocation to long-term holding.

It is significant that the Court assumed that plaintiffs’ allegations were sufficient for legal standing on the roundup and removal aspects of the litigation. Because the Judge did not address the merits at all in his May 24, 2010 ruling, his preliminary finding in his December 23, 2009 opinion that relocation to long-term holding is likely illegal indicates that the arguments put forth by plaintiffs in this litigation will be successful in any future lawsuit – especially since we fervently believe that the additional briefing requested by the Judge greatly strengthened plaintiffs’ arguments. This case was filed pro bono and we remain extremely grateful for the tremendous generosity of lead attorney William Spriggs, his legal team and law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney.

IDA is determined to continue to fight the BLM’s ill-conceived plans to continue removing wild horses from their homes on the range and stockpiling them in long-term holding

The proposal would have allowed countries like Japan, Norway and Iceland, who never stopped killing whales in the first place, to continue killing them, with the endorsement of the IWC.  Thanks to pressure from IDA and whale supporters worldwide, we stood firmly unified, demanding real protection from hunting for whales. The world listened. And they agreed.

Although we prevailed in maintaining the global ban on commercial whaling, other significant pressures continue to harm whales and threaten their existence.  Starvation, increasing predation by orcas, migration through industrial polluted waters, oil spills, military sonar, and commercial fishing operations are among the many obstacles threatening their survival today.  The central location of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, is home to an endangered sperm whale population. In 2009, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicated the population would not be able to withstand a loss of three additional whales due to man.  Last week, the first dead sperm whale was found floating 77 miles south of the sunken rig.

Please enjoy the victory – and take pride in the part you played preserving the moratorium on commercial whaling. Stay tuned for upcoming alerts to further protect marine mammals and their habitats. Next time we ask you to send a letter or fax, remember this – it can work. Every fax and e-mail you sent made this victory possible.

Activists in Phoenix taking to the street!

This year’s International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ) was a huge success, featuring events in 34 cities in 7 countries and our first-ever virtual protest that used social networking technology to circulate nearly 10,000 messages about how elephants suffer and die prematurely in zoos.On Saturday, dedicated activists organized and attended demonstrations that reached thousands of people in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Croatia, France, South Africa and Spain. Elephant advocates held colorful banners and posters and educated the public by handing out more than 30,000 informative flyers, opening people’s eyes to the lifetime of misery elephants endure in inadequate zoo displays. Reports on demos are still coming in, and we’re seeing record numbers of people attending this year’s events. (Stay tuned to this blog and our IDAEZ information page for event reports and photos.)

IDAEZ’s first virtual protest, also held on Saturday, was an outstanding success. This special cyber-demo allowed everyone to participate in IDAEZ by Tweeting zoos and posting informative messages on zoos’ Facebook pages describing how Earth’s largest land mammals physically and psychologically suffer in small, unnatural exhibits. Participants replaced their Facebook images with eye-catching IDAEZ protest “signs,” drawing even more attention to their messages. Rather than allow their members to read the truth, Brookfield Zoo (Chicago), Toledo Zoo and the Bronx Zoo shut down their Facebook pages for comments for four hours and blocked new fans from joining.
IDA thanks all the committed and compassionate advocates who participated in IDAEZ in person and on-line. You helped educate people worldwide about the terrible plight of elephants in zoos and brought us a step closer to ending their suffering.

We also thank our IDAEZ celebrity supporters for their words of encouragement and belief in this very special event: Lily Tomlin, Steve Guttenberg, Jorja Fox, Elaine Hendrix, Dick Donner and Kathy Joosten.

The success of IDAEZ proves what we’ve been saying all along: United we can end the elephants’ suffering!

Please visit www.HelpElephants.com for more information on our campaigns for elephants in zoos and circuses.

While this proposal awaits a response and approval from the BLM, the agency is sadly moving forward with plans to disperse the Calico horses around the country and sending the remainder to long-term holding – thus permanently separating family members for life.  We urge the BLM to stop these plans and to instead focus their time and energy into making this proposal a reality – a first step to reforming the broken and unsustainable program.

Last Thursday was the last public viewing of the Calico horses being held at the publicly-funded, short-term facility in Fallon, Nevada. IDA is opposed to the ending of public viewing of horses at this facility and urges the BLM to re-institute public access to this BLM-managed facility which holds more than 2,220 wild horses who belong to the American people.  It is ironic that the BLM uses tax dollars to fund this facility and prohibits tax payers from seeing their wild horses at this taxpayer-funded facility.

In the meantime, please be sure to voice your opposition to the unnecessary and inhumane proposed roundups of 2,000 horses and burros in the Reveille roundup of 200 horses (public comments due by June 25).