Animal Times Summer 2002

PETA Sends in the Feds to Rescue Polar Bear!
Alaska’s new polar playmate presented her with sticks when she arrived at the Baltimore Zoo. She thanked Magnet by nibbling gently on his toes through her quarantine door. Soon, they were swimming together in a cool pool—a stark contrast from the hell that PETA saved Alaska from when we clued federal agents in to her phony birth records forged by her captor, the Suarez Bros. Circus. Stars such as Moulin Rouge’s Ewan McGregor, as well as the German government, which previously owned two of the bears, have been pressuring the government to confiscate all of the seven polar bears being abused and confined to cages in the tropical heat in Puerto Rico by the Mexican circus. The remaining six bears desperately need your help.

You Can Help

Even Congress is outraged. Citing unmistakable animal cruelty, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced H.R. 3932, the Polar Bear Protection Act, which would prohibit the use of polar bears in traveling circuses. Please contact your congressional representative and ask for his or her support of this important legislation.

The Honorable [full name]
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Tel.: 202-224-3121 (Capitol switchboard)
www.congress.org

Animal Times en Español
PETA’s new Hispanic Community Outreach Campaign has produced its first-ever Spanish language Animal Times to help bring our lifesaving message of compassion to the Hispanic community and the Spanish-speaking world. For a free inaugural issue, call our Hispanic hotline, recorded by news anchor María Celeste Arrarás (888-872-9773). Spanish speakers can also order a free Spanish vegetarian starter kit from 866-3-SEA-VEGE and check out our campaign at PETAenEspanol.com or SeaVegetariano.com.

Photo: © Bill Cooke

Tell Canon to Focus on Cruelty-Free Giving
The Canon Corporation sponsors the March of Dimes, a charity that funds cruel animal experiments, including cutting open ferrets’ skulls to inflict brain damage, with money that could go toward lifesaving programs to help babies. Tell Canon that supporting a cruelty-free charity, such as Easter Seals or Birth Defect Research for Children, or at least earmarking March of Dimes donations for non-animal research and programs only, is a snap.

You Can Help
• Please tell Canon to develop corporate compassion:

Kinya Uchida,
President and CEO
Canon USA, Inc., 1 Canon Plz., Lake Success, NY 11042
Tel.: 516-328-5000
Fax: 516-328-5069
For more information, see MarchOfCrimes.com.

• Contact PETA for a free list of charities that don’t test on animals.

PETA Takes Veggie Burgers on Tour
PETA’s “Lettuce Ladies,” “Broccoli Boys,” and giant corncob mascot “Colonel Corn” have been busy planting the seeds of vegetarianism throughout the country, offering folks free tofu burgers and delicious vegetarian chorizo (soy sausage), from Capitol Hill to “cattle country” to school classrooms.

You Can Help
Order PETA’s free vegetarian starter kit if you know someone who is thinking about turning over a new leaf. Visit GoVeg.com, or call
1-888-VEG-FOOD.

Fur for Freezing Refugees

PETA shipped more than 500 fur coats, shawls, blankets and other furs donated by former fur-wearers to Afghan refugees, many of them children suffering through freezing temperatures at the Pakistan border.

Send your fur coats to us. Contact PETA for details or check out FurIsDead.com.

Photo:PETA

PETA Victorious!

Our rescuers, researchers and caseworkers don’t ask for justice, they demand it and win important victories for animals in need. Here are some examples. We:

• Stopped a “bloodless” bullfight at Paris’ Stade de France from going to the ring.

• Worked with Rocky Mountain Animal Defense to stop plans by Colorado Valley School District to poison prairie dogs.

• Convinced the Michigan Department of Corrections to stop “culling” sick cattle with blunt trauma and to instead contract with veterinarians to euthanize the animals.

• Nixed plans for a donkey basketball game and convinced a Maryland school system to ban any future exploitative animal events and also to implement humane education.

• Put the brakes on a “puppy auction” planned as a PTA fundraiser at Wayside Elementary School.

• Provided information to officials of California’s Inland Valley Humane Society convincing them to end their supply of dogs and cats to a vet tech school whose courses involved experimenting on the animals.

• Persuaded kitchenware shop Sur la Table to cancel a foie gras cooking class scheduled for the very next day.

You Did It!

ANIMAL TIMES® READERS ARE HELPING THE ANIMALS
Ontario activist Nathalie Paquin flew into action when she learned that dozens of pigeons were trapped where they lived after city crews boarded up the openings beneath an overpass. Nathalie called and met with city officials, animal rescue groups, police and local media, and her persistence paid off: The boards were permanently removed.

California’s Susan Speck organized a long-distance rescue mission to save a stray puppy she met on Central America’s Utila Island. Susan befriended Scruffy after she found her eating garbage scraps and drinking gutter water. She considered smuggling the little dog out of the country but knew she would never get Scruffy past customs.

When Susan got back to the states, she contacted a dive group that was going to Utila. Armed with a photo, the group (including a flight attendant who rescues

homeless dogs) found the lucky pup, took her to a local vet for health papers and put her on an airplane to her new home in the U.S.

Please, never leave strays on the street, where they are sure to suffer—take them to a local shelter or vet’s office or bring them home.