IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Demonstrations’

IDA filed a complaint today with the USDA, urging an investigation into the death of Dondi, an Asian elephant held at the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts. She died on Wednesday, after suffering an unidentified illness. Dondi’s unexpected death raises a red flag because at age 36 she should have been in the prime of life.

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.

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.

Every year approximately TWO MILLION dogs are inhumanely caged, tortured and used for food in South Korea! The dogs are crammed like vegetables into crates. When a customer makes a selection, the dogs are roughly yanked from the cage and intentionally abused before being slaughtered for the sale.

In Defense of Animal’s partner in South Korea recently shut down a dog meat farm in the Gyeonggi Province. While this is a huge victory for the dogs of South Korea, more must be done.

This practice of killing and eating dogs is not because of some long-standing cultural tradition. In fact, most Koreans find the cruelty and killing appalling. Yet it continues because it is backed by government indifference and because profit-driven industry forces aggressively promote the superstition that the more the dog suffered in his death, the more virility a man will experience when he eats the flesh.

Please join IDA and our Korean colleagues by participating in The International Day of Action! There are demonstrations happening all over the world but don’t worry if there isn’t one in your area. This year we are also having a “virtual demonstration”!

It is very easy to take part in the “virtual demonstration” – just change your profile photo on your Facebook or Twitter pages to our “Sign” (provided in this blog entry) and post this petition to the South Korean Embassy in your status line or tweet it to your friends! By encouraging your friends and followers to sign this petition – you’ll be urging the Korean government to strengthen and enforce animal protection laws so that these cruelties can be brought to an end! So even if you can’t be outside an embassy next Tuesday – you can still let those decision makers inside the embassy know you care about how these dogs are treated and you want them to do something about it!

Imagine an elderly golden retriever behind the bars of a small cage; his warm brown eyes begging for your help. In the United States this dog would most likely be in a shelter waiting for his forever home, but the dog I speak of was condemned to a tortuous death in the South Korean meat market. Dogs just like those you and I cherish as members of our family are killed for their meat every day in South Korea. In Defense of Animals cannot turn away from the great need of these helpless beings.

IDA’s South Korean partners, Coexistence for Animal Rights on Earth, (CARE) recently received information about a remote dog meat “farm” in Gyeonggi Province. When CARE activists visited the facility, they discovered an appalling scene. Dogs were living in miserable conditions in feces-laden, cramped, ramshackle cages. These neglected dogs were filthy- some suffering from severe injuries.

The conditions were so horrible; these brave activists simply couldn’t leave without the dogs. At the risk of arrest and personal injury, they rescued the dogs, bringing them to CARE’s animal shelter to be treated, cleaned and, most likely, loved for the first time. You can see the images of the dramatic rescue here .

Some in South Korea believe that the more the dog suffers during death, the more virility a man will obtain from eating his or her flesh. Dogs are tortured to death in shocking and unimaginable ways because of this horrible, antiquated superstition. Not only do these dogs endure loneliness and squalor during their short lives, their deaths are inconceivably cruel.

Most South Koreans consider dogs to be companion animals. Only a small minority eat them. We want to support those South Koreans who advocate that animals deserve compassion, love and respect; that they are sentient beings and not mere commodities to be bought, sold and slaughtered.

Please help IDA draw international attention to this issue by participating in our International Day of Action for South Korean Dogs on Tuesday, July 6, 2010. Dozens of cities around the world will host outreach events to educate their communities about this important issue. Activists will pass out leaflets and hold signs outside South Korean Embassies and Consulates around the globe, drawing world attention to the dogs of South Korea. Find out if your city is hosting an event here.

This year’s Day of Action includes cities in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Bolivia, South Africa, India and of course, South Korea. Let’s support the courageous South Korean activists who battle to free these dogs by raising our voices around the world on July 6!

Saturday is the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos, when activists around the world will be sending a message that elephants just don’t belong in cramped, unnatural displays that shorten their lives by decades.

This year, everyone can help the elephants, no matter where you live, by participating in our first-ever virtual demonstration on Facebook and Twitter. It’s easy to do and a great way to spread the word that it’s time to stop the elephants’ suffering.

Here’s how it works:

Facebook Instructions – Speak up for Elephants in 3 easy steps!

1. Make sure you have your protest “sign“. All you have to do is right click on the “Elephants Suffer” image and choose “Save” to get this “sign”. Replace your profile photo to your “sign” and keep it up all weekend!

2. Go through the zoo list and “Like” the promotional pages for these zoos. This will allow you to post comments on their pages:

• Albuquerque Biological Park, Albuquerque, NM
• Audubon Zoo, Audubon, LA
• Baltimore Zoo, Baltimore, MD (Maryland Zoo in Baltimore)
• BREC’s Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA
• Bronx Zoo, Bronx, NY (phasing out)
• Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, IL
• Buffalo Zoological Gardens, Buffalo, NY
• Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, FL
• Buttonwood Park Zoo, New Bedford, MA
• Caldwell Zoo, Tyler, TX
• Cameron Park Zoo, Waco, TX
• Central Florida Zoological Park, Lake Monroe, FL (may not replace elephants after they die)
• Chaffee Zoological Gardens, Fresno, CA
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO
• Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati, OH
• Cleveland Metro Park Zoo, Cleveland, OH
• Columbus Zoo, Columbus, OH
• Dallas Zoo, Dallas, TX
• Denver Zoo, Denver, CO
• Dickerson Park Zoo, Dickerson, MO
• Disney Animal Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, FL
• El Paso Zoo, El Paso, TX
• Fort Worth Zoo, Ft. Worth, TX
• Greenville Zoo, Greenville, SC
• Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City, UT
• Honolulu Zoo, Honolulu, HI
• Houston Zoological Gardens, Houston, TX
• Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis, IN
• Jackson Zoo, Jackson, MS
• Jacksonville Zoological Gardens, Jacksonville, FL
• Kansas City Zoo, Kansas City, MO
• Knoxville Zoo, Knoxville, TN
• Lee Richardson Zoo, Garden City, KS
• Little Rock Zoo, Little Rock, AK
• Los Angeles Zoo, Los Angeles, CA
• Louisville Zoological Gardens, Louisville, KY
• 37.  Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, FL
• Marine World, Vallejo, Vallejo, CA
• Memphis Zoo, Memphis, TN
• Miami Metro Zoo, Miami, FL
• Milwaukee Zoological Garden, Milwaukee, WI
• Montgomery Zoo, Montgomery, AL
• Nashville Zoo, Nashville, TN
• Niabi Zoo, Coal Valley, IL
• North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, NC
• Oakland Zoo, Oakland, CA
• Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma City, OK
• Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE
• Oregon Zoo, Portland, OR
• Phoenix Zoo, Phoenix, AZ
• Pittsburgh Zoo, Pittsburgh, PA
• Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma, WA
• Reid Park Zoo, Tuscon, AZ
• Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia, SC
• Roger Williams Park Zoo, Providence RI
• Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Syracuse, NY
• Saint Louis Zoological Park, St. Louis, MO
• San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, TX
• San Diego Wild Animal Park, San Diego, CA
• San Diego Zoo, San Diego, CA
• Santa Barbara Zoo, Santa Barbara, CA (phasing out)
• Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, KS
• Seneca Park Zoo, Rochester, NY
• Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington, DC
• Toledo Zoo, Toledo, OH
• Topeka Zoological Park, Topeka, KS
• Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum, Tulsa, OK
• Virginia Zoo, Norfolk, VA
• Wildlife Safari, Winston, OR
• Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA
• Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
• Calgary Zoo (Alberta)
• Toronto Zoo (Ontario)
• Granby Zoo (Quebec)

3. Starting on Saturday June 19th, start posting your comments! Remember that your comments will be seen by followers of all ages and comments that include profanity or can be interpreted as “abusive” will probably be removed before the general public gets a chance to read them and may result in your profile being reported and/or deleted by Facebook. IDA is not responsible for any comments you may leave or action that results.

Twitter Instructions:

1. Make sure you have your protest “sign“. All you have to do is right click on the “Elephants Suffer” image and choose “Save” to get this “sign”. Replace your profile photo to your “sign” and keep it up all weekend!

2. Go through the zoo list above and “Follow” these pages. This will allow you to send them direct messages and Tweets using the @. here’s an example of how this works – you Tweet : @ZooAtl Elephants need more space than urban zoos can provide. It’s cruel to keep elephants in zoos!

And that Tweet goes directly to the Zoo Atlanta Twitter page.

3. Encourage your friends to join your Twitter Demo! Tweet to them to also change their profile image to their “sign”. Here is an example of a Tweet you can use to encourage them to Tweet the zoos you are Tweeting: FF! Follow these zoos ( Then list a bunch of Twitter pages for zoos with elephants and put a @ before their address. Example : @ZooAtl ) & Tweet about what you think of zoos!

4. Starting on Saturday June 19th, start sending direct messages and Tweeting to the zoos you are following using the Reply function. Here is are some examples of a great Twitter Demo Tweet: @ZooAtl is no fun for the Elephants who live there. OR Elephants belong in the wild not @ZooAtl

5, You can run your Twitter Demo all day – Rain or Shine! But remember messages and Tweets that include profanity or can be interpreted as “abusive” may result in your profile being reported and/or deleted by Twitter. IDA is not reasonable for any messages or Tweets sent or action that results.

Here are some quick messages you can send (but feel free to create your own):

Elephants are suffering and dying prematurely in zoos.

Zoos are entertainment, not education, and elephants should not be used for our entertainment.

Elephant captivity does not equal conservation!

No one has the right, or the need, to see elephants in person, especially when keeping them in zoos causes them so much suffering.

Elephants need more space than urban zoos can provide.

It’s cruel to keep elephants in zoos.

Elephants in zoos suffer painful foot disease and arthritis that cripple and kill them, infertility, high infant mortality and stillbirth rates.

The repetitive rocking and swaying you see elephants doing are signs of psychological distress. Elephants don’t do this in the wild.

Misery, disease and early death: what an elephant gets in a zoo.

Think about it: Elephants have a natural life span of 50-60 years, yet more than half of elephants who died in zoos didn’t live to age 40. You call this conservation?

Elephants in zoos live on a few acres at best; in the wild they live in enormous home ranges of hundreds of square miles. It just isn’t right!

Time to ban the bullhook in zoos! Stop cruel, circus-style training.

Think about it: U.S. zoos will spend close to half a billion dollars on enlarging exhibits that still are too small for elephants. This money could protect entire elephant populations of animals in Africa and Asia.

Think about it: Annually, zoos spend more than $16 million to display fewer than 300 elephants. This money could protect entire elephant populations in Africa and Asia.

Some of the world’s leading elephant experts say elephants don’t belong in urban zoos. Why aren’t zoos listening?

Think about it: Scientists have found that elephants in zoos are dying far younger than those in relatively protected wild populations.

Justice for Queenie: Tell the USDA It’s Time to Protect Elephant Welfare Instead of Zoos’ Interests

The International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos (IDAEZ) takes place this Saturday, with more than 30 events in five countries. You can help the elephants, even if you don’t live near a zoo, by sending a message that the USDA must put animal welfare over zoos’ interests.

The first step is to ensure the USDA is held accountable for its actions in sending Queenie to the San Antonio Zoo, which does not have the space needed to properly care for elephants. If you’ve been following this elephant’s tragic story on www.HelpElephants.com and this blog, you know that IDA has been fighting for Queenie for the last three years, and that we’re not giving up the battle for her life. Thanks to the thousands of you who have called and written so many times on her behalf, hope remains alive.

But it’s time to use our voices again for Queenie, who is the victim of an apparently all-too-cozy relationship between the USDA and the zoo and circus industries.

Consider the facts: After multiple violations of federal animal welfare law; having two elephants, Tina and Jewel, seized because they were in grave condition; and after having federal charges pressed against him, Queenie’s former circus trainer, Will Davenport, ended up $20,000 richer and paid no fines! That’s just not right.

Yes, we wanted Queenie freed from her misery, but the USDA failed in its mandate to protect animal welfare by directing her to the wrong place. An elephant who has suffered abuse and neglect for more than 50 years, purely for the sake of public display, should have been sent to the peace and solitude of a natural-habitat elephant sanctuary, where she could get the special rehabilitative care she needs.

At a time when the American public is fed up with the lax oversight of federal agencies that are far too enmeshed with the industries they’re meant to regulate, we need to speak out and demand justice for Queenie.

You can take action now. Send a quick message to your elected members of Congress by clicking here.

Stay tuned this week for information on more ways you can help elephants even if you don’t live near a zoo with an IDAEZ event on Saturday, including a secret action to be announced later this week.

Last week more than 100 citizen-delegates gathered for the “March on Washington” in our nation’s capital. It was wonderful to see more than one hundred citizen-delegates, representing millions of Americans, gathered in our nation’s capital to demand that President Obama and Congress change course and fix the broken wild horse and burro program. Wild horse and burro advocacy groups and animal protection organizations united to step up the pressure on the government. IDA is proud to be a part of this distinguished group. Below is the statement read at the White House rally on behalf of Dr. Katz, IDA’s founder and president.

Dr. Elliot Katz, founder and president of In Defense of Animals, wasn’t able to be here today. He asked that I read this message on his behalf.

On behalf of America’s wild horses and burros, and in honor of Wild Horse Annie and all who have gone before us in this long fight, thank you for your work.  We look forward anxiously to the day that, together, we finish this battle, and America’s wild horses and burros finally receive the protections they so desperately need and deserve.

I am sorry I am not able to be with you today as we express our solidarity and determination to protect the well-being and future of America’s wild horses and burros.

As a veterinarian who has seen first-hand the horrors that occur in slaughter houses and who has seen the videos over the years of the terrible mistreatment of America’s wild horses and burros, I am deeply gratified by your presence here today, and by the work that each and every one of you is doing to put an end to the cruel and unjust policies our government is following.

As one voice together, we ask for an immediate halt to the cruel, abusive and illegal roundups of these treasured beings. I am very pleased for the cooperative efforts of the groups represented here – it is through the combined work of wild horse and burro advocates, animal protection and animal rights advocates that we CAN achieve victory in this important fight.  These combined efforts are exemplified in the presence of everyone out here today, demonstrating that together we can make a significant impact on the well-being of other species.

I am proud that In Defense of Animals has initiated a lawsuit challenging the legality of BLM roundups and long-term holding facilities, and that we have championed this cause for the past few years. As our lawsuit continues in federal court, we are deeply grateful to our legal team from Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney — Mr. William Spriggs and his entire team – and we are gratified to have such wonderful co-plaintiffs in renowned ecologist Craig Downer and noted children’s author Terri Farley.

This blog was contributed by Deniz Bolbol, IDA’s Wild Horse and Burros Campaign.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has reported the first sea lion trap and kill of the season on the Columbia River. Named “Lionel” by students from Redland Elementary School in Portland, but known to wildlife agencies by the brand “C653,” the sea lion was trapped and killed by lethal injection on Wednesday. Sixty-four California sea lions are listed on the government’s kill authority letter and are at risk of being trapped or shot by wildlife officials. IDA is skeptical about the Oregon and Washington state wildlife agencies’ ability to correctly identify and humanely handle targeted sea lions.

Yesterday protesters from IDA and the Sea Lion Defense Brigade confronted wildlife officials responsible for the lethal removal of the protected sea lions, to voice concerns and ask questions about a plan that is misguided, has not met the criteria set forth in Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, fails to accurately identify specific sea lions as required by law, and will do nothing to resolve issues that endanger salmon populations.

Fishing quotas for salmon on the Columbia River this year were raised to 16 percent from last year’s 13 percent, while sea lions at the Bonneville Dam are being killed for eating what will likely be only about one percent of the 2010 spring run. These wildlife agencies are not making sound, biology-based decisions regarding salmon recovery. And the agencies’ track record has been abysmal, with multiple incidents of malfunctioning traps and seven sea lions who have died unintentionally in state custody.