The Alaska Zoo announced that it will send Maggie, a 27-year-old African elephant, to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary in California! Maggie has lived in frigid Alaska in a small exhibit with a concrete enclosure since 1983 and has been alone since elephant Annabelle died in 1997. Earlier this year, Maggie collapsed twice and needed assistance in standing - a sure sign that inadequate conditions were affecting her health. PETA and concerned citizens around the world have been urging the zoo for years to send Maggie to a sanctuary. Soon Maggie will have room to roam, swim, forage, and socialize with other elephants.
After receiving an anonymous tip that a kiosk at Fox Run Mall in Newington, New Hampshire, had a novelty display that tormented a Betta fish, PETA immediately contacted the mall's management. In the display, bubbles were pumped up to the top of a tube, where the trapped fish continually struggled. Within minutes, the display was banned from the mall and the kiosk was required to stop selling other fish in small cups (which was in violation of its contract with the mall).
A Pennsylvania man, frustrated that his guide dog, Inky, had failed to respond to his commands, dragged the animal back to his house and kicked him to death. His wife filed a protective order against her husband, alleging long-term abuse of herself and their 8-year-old son.
PETA wrote to the prosecutor, detailing the link between cruelty to animals and domestic violence, and advised hundreds of others to do the same. The abuser was convicted and sentenced to up to two years in prison.
Click here to learn more about the dangerous link between animal and human abuse.
A Seattle man was convicted of multiple felony charges stemming from an incident in which he attacked his girlfriend, choking her, and repeatedly slammed her 6-week-old kitten onto the ground, killing the animal. PETA put pressure on the prosecutors, and the abuser was sentenced to six months in prison.
Read more about the link between animal and human abuse.
In March 2002, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) rejected an application from Six Flags Marine World to import and put on display at the amusement park two endangered baby Asian elephants. When Six Flags Marine World requested that USFWS reconsider the denial of the permit, USFWS reversed its earlier decision and granted the permit to allow the baby elephants to be imported.
PETA, along with In Defense of Animals, Animal Protection Institute, The Elephant Alliance, The Elephant Sanctuary, and private citizens, filed a lawsuit to overturn the irresponsible decision. The lawsuit charged that the permit to import the elephants violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, both of which prohibit the importation of endangered animals for commercial purposes. Less than two weeks after the lawsuit was filed, in an unprecedented action, Six Flags Marine World voluntarily surrendered its permit.
The elephants will remain in their natural homelands with their families.
