After PETA's "Scummiest CEO of the Year" winner, Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons, bragged about shooting an African elephant and displaying a photograph of himself as he grinned over the body (which was straight out of old African bwana movies), things really started to go south for him. Domain name rival NameCheap offered disgusted Go Daddy customers discounted transfers to its service, as well as a $1 donation to an African elephant protection group for every transferred account. NameCheap's latest blog entry reports $20,433 raised for Save the Elephants. And that only includes people who transferred to NameCheap after dropping Go Daddy—it doesn't count those who transferred to other providers. As a result, Go Daddy's domain sales have dropped like a stone.
 

maureen lunn/cc by 2.0

 
Parsons' shot was heard 'round the world and earned him far-flung criticism. PETA pal Cloris Leachman is the spokesperson for another Go Daddy rival, Network Solutions, but it was her own convictions that led her to Twitter in order to level punches at Parsons, such as this one: "Elephants are meant to be loved, not mercilessly shot to death."

In an insightful piece he wrote for The Huffington Post, Will Travers, the CEO of animal protection group Born Free USA (and son of Born Free stars Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna), said of Parsons: "The truth is that shooting one animal rarely if ever resolves conflict. … If he really wants to help, then investing in long-term, humane, and non-lethal solutions is the answer, and he has the means to do so if he so wished."

You have the means to save African elephants, too, by refusing to patronize Parson's company and instead using a domain-hosting service that does not promote cruelty to animals.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

If you think cruel steel-jaw traps used to snare animals are a thing of the past, think again. Animal protection group Born Free USA just released the results of its undercover investigation of professional and recreational wildlife trapping in the U.S. The horrific video footage shows how animals trapped for their fur suffer, sometimes for days, before dying.

A bobcat is caught in a leghold trap in New Mexico. © Born Free USA / Respect for Animals

The trapper kills the red fox by crushing the fox’s chest and lungs with his foot in Pennsylvania in January 2011. The fox is restrained by a catch pole. © Born Free USA / Respect for Animals

Collateral damage: A non-targeted skunk’s front leg is caught in a leghold trap in New Mexico. © Born Free USA / Respect for Animals

The widely used steel-jaw traps crush animals' limbs and are so painful that animals sometimes mutilate their own bodies in an attempt to free themselves. Another trap, the Conibear, crushes animals' necks and chests, taking three to eight minutes to suffocate them. Animals caught in traps that are set underwater take up to nine agonizing minutes to drown. And the target animals aren't the only ones who get caught in these traps. Born Free USA estimates that one in three victims are other animals, including many homeless or lost dogs and cats.

Born Free's executive vice president, Adam Roberts, says, "Commercial fur trapping dates back to the 1600s and has hardly changed. It remains barbaric and most people are not even aware that this is going on in most of the U.S." Even though more than 80 countries and some U.S. states have banned steel-jaw traps, they are still legal in most of the country. What are we waiting for?

The only way not to support the fur-trapping industry is to refuse to buy any item containing fur. Please sign PETA's Pledge to Be Fur-Free today. And if you've ever even considered wearing animal fur, this video is for you.

Written by Michelle Sherrow