IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Government’

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.

In yet another victory for animals, the Sacramento (Calif.) City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance amendment that provides greater protection for animals used in traveling exhibitions such as circuses and rodeos. Presented by Councilmember Sandy Sheedy, the amendment establishes an application and permit process for traveling animal exhibitors and empowers Sacramento animal control officers to perform unannounced inspections to insure the humane care and treatment of performing animals.

IDA founder Dr. Elliot Katz provided expert testimony at the hearing, educating the council about the crippling foot and joint diseases that elephants in circuses suffer as a result of constant confinement and being forced to perform unnatural tricks.

The council also heard from local animal advocates, animal organizations, and leading experts on the behavior and care of wild animals, including PAWS Co-founder Ed Stewart, wildlife consultant and veterinarian Dr. Mel Richardson, and animal behaviorist and trainer Gail Laule, who all urged passage of the amendment.

At one dramatic point during the hearing, the Councilmember showed a video of Ringling Bros. Circus trainers brutally hitting elephants in the face, trunk and body with bullhooks as they waited to perform. It should come as no surprise that the council voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance amendment after seeing this blatant display of cruelty.

Dr. Katz hailed the council’s decision as a wonderful first step. “IDA applauds the Sacramento City Council for its unanimous support of this important ordinance that will better protect animal welfare,” said Dr. Katz. “Now it’s our job to continue to educate the public about the plight of animals used in circuses, rodeos and other forms of so-called entertainment, and keep fighting to end these inherently cruel and outdated displays.”

IDA would like to thank all our Sacramento-area supporters who quickly responded to our alerts, sending emails and making phone calls in support of the ordinance. We also thank Councilmember Sheedy for her compassionate leadership for animals, all the council members who voted to approve this important ordinance, and Mayor Kevin Johnson.

You can view the hearing at HERE. Click on the “Watch Now” button for the July 20^th meeting.

If you would like to thank Mayor Johnson and the Sacramento City Council, you can email them at:

Mayor Kevin Johnson
- You must go to the city website and email the mayor via this form.

E-Mail string for entire City Council:

rtretheway@cityofsacramento.org

ssheedy@cityofsacramento.org

scohn@cityofsacramento.org

rkfong@cityofsacramento.org

lhammond@cityofsacramento.org

KMcCarty@cityofsacramento.org

rwaters@cityofsacramento.org

bpannell@cityofsacramento.org

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.

"Sign" for the Virtual Demo - Just Right Click in the image and Choose Save. Then you can repost this image anywhere.

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!

Many of you wrote to your members of Congress in the past two weeks to request help in ensuring that the USDA is held responsible for its actions in sending Queenie to a tiny, antiquated exhibit in the San Antonio Zoo. We had long urged that she go to a sanctuary where she could get the special rehabilitative care that she needs after a lifetime of abuse in the circus industry. Instead, the USDA showed itself to be far too enmeshed with the zoo industry by acting as its acquisition arm rather than its regulator.

Several of you have shared with us responses from your senators and representatives indicating that our elected officials don’t understand that the USDA orchestrated Queenie’s transfer to the zoo rather than directing her to a facility where her needs could best be met. Likewise, the USDA appears to be successfully sidestepping the outrageous fact that Queenie’s trainer, Will Davenport, financially benefited from the agency’s deal-making, despite the fact he was found in repeated violation of federal animal welfare law.

We look at any response as a useful “foot in the door” toward getting some real help for Queenie in the form of attention from Congress. The key is to capitalize on that response.

If you have received a letter regarding Queenie from one of your senators or representatives, the next step is to follow up with a phone call to his or her office. (You can do this even if you did not receive a response!) Ask to speak with the aide who covers animal issues, and fill them in, using the following information:

• The USDA crafted a deal in which an abusive elephant trainer, who was repeatedly cited for serious violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and faced formal charges, financially benefited , ending up $20,000 richer for it.

• Will Davenport’s violations were so egregious that the USDA seized two elephants, Tina and Jewel, in August 2009 because they were in such dire condition. Davenport also “threatened, abused and harassed” APHIS officials in the course of carrying out their duties.

• The USDA’s formal charges against Davenport resulted in $100,000 in assessed fines. But under the USDA’s settlement deal, he never paid a penny in fines and he sold his remaining elephant, Queenie, to the San Antonio Zoo for $20,000.

• The USDA claims to make decisions based on the best interest of each individual animal, yet it failed to ensure that Queenie was sent to a sanctuary where she would have received the specialized rehabilitative care she needed after decades of abuse in the circus. Instead she was sent to a zoo that lacks the space to properly care for even one elephant.

• This represents just one more example of a federal oversight agency that is far too entwined with the industry it is supposed to be regulating, and the American people are tired of it.

Queenie, imprisoned in that tiny zoo cell, is the embodiment of the USDA’s many failures to hold the welfare of its charges above the interests of the industry. Let’s use this opportunity to focus Congressional attention on her, and on the problem elephants face at the hands of the USDA. Please make your follow-up calls today!

If you need additional help in responding to your elected officials or if your senator or representative wishes to help, please contact Deb Robinson at circuses@idausa.org.

This blog was contributed by Deborah Robinson, IDA’s Captive Elephant Specialist.

Workers using Corexit in the Exxon Valdez Spill. Photo Credit : The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

It’s been over a month since President Obama and the EPA gave BP 24 hours to stop dumping the toxic oil dispersant Corexit into the Gulf of Mexico. The decision was first reported in the Washington Post immediately after Congress heard testimony from BP’s own executives and scientists confirming our worst fears. Not only is this highly toxic chemical relatively ineffective against this type of crude oil, but it was now adding more pollutants to the already poisoned waters.

Numerous independent scientists have come forward to say that Corexit is really only good for public relations. This carcinogenic, mutagenic, and highly toxic chemical does break up the oil into small somewhat transparent ripples and droplets that are more visually acceptable than images of giant black tides drowning wildlife and covering beaches. What the cameras don’t see is the long term damage to delicate ecosystems that are now struggling to escape toxic tides of chemicals. According to environmental engineer Joe Taylor the sulfur and sulfuric acid based dispersant will also deplete oxygen levels under the water, killing plankton and everything above plankton in the food chain. This is not new information. Corexit has been banned for years in the UK because of the long and short-term damage to wildlife and ecosystems. The world was first introduced to Corexit in 1989 when it was used in the Exxon Valdez spill. Images of the workers during that spill spraying the chemical in hazmat suits should have been our first clue something wasn’t quit right with this chemical.

So – why at the time of this decision had BP already sprayed over 600,000 gallons of Corexit on the surface of the Gulf with another 55,000 injected directly into the oil pouring out of the ocean floor? And why, one month later, have they been allowed to dump even more? It is estimated that more than 1.4 million gallons have already been used.

Please act today to remind President Obama that this disaster could have been prevented and that he needs to restore the moratorium on all-offshore drilling in the U.S.

After two days of intense negotiations, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) today announced the rejection of a proposal to resume commercial whaling, banned since 1986.  Thousands of IDA members responded to our emergency action alert by sending faxes to President Obama and Congress, urging them to block the whaling proposal. Thank you! It worked!

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.