Written by Jeff Mackey
PETA has joined Animal Defenders International in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for illegally issuing permits allowing the Ringling Bros. circus to export endangered tigers and elephants for use in its shows anywhere at any time for the next three years!
FWS has allowed incomplete permit applications from Ringling for far too long. It is illegal to export endangered animals, and the Endangered Species Act includes exceptions to this prohibition only in the most limited of circumstances. To get a permit, an application containing very specific information needs to be submitted to FWS—and as a matter of law, all this information must be made available to the public.
FWS violated this requirement in numerous ways by issuing these latest permits. First, it didn't tell the public about four of the elephants Ringling sought to export, so PETA and the public were illegally deprived of some of the information related to the applications. In addition, the permit applications to which the public was given access lacked extensive information required by law, including details about when, to where, and for how long Ringling intends to export the animals as well as specific data about Ringling's supposed conservation education activities, which it used as justification for the permit.
Because concerned citizens were denied this information—and because FWS must stop illegally rubber-stamping incomplete permit applications—PETA has filed suit.
There's no telling how much these animals will be forced to endure abroad, where, in many countries, animal protection laws are scarce and enforcement is even less common. One of the elephants FWS is allowing Ringling to export is Sarah, who tested positive for tuberculosis and was taken off the road after collapsing last year in Anaheim, California—and after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited Ringling for failing to treat her adequately for a chronic infection.
At home or abroad, Ringling is bad news for animals, which is why more and more people are speaking out against the circus's inexcusable cruelty. Help the animals abused by Ringling by adding your voice at RinglingBeatsAnimals.com.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Ringling just got its bell rung, courtesy of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The circus was scheduled to perform in the city in June, but because of Ringling's sordid history of violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and its recent $270,000 fine from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the city refused to issue Ringling a permit to perform.
James Preston|cc by 2.0
Just last year, Rio Rancho added a provision to its animal ordinance barring any animal shows that had been fined by the USDA in the past five years or cited for violating the AWA in the last three years. Since Ringling just paid the largest fine in circus history last year and racked up 10 violations of the AWA in the past three years, it certainly didn't pass muster. PETA has sent a thank-you letter to the city.
Now Ringling is trying to haul "The Cruelest Show on Earth" to the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque. PETA is appealing to the Tingley Coliseum at the fairgrounds, detailing Ringling's long history of animal abuse and urging the venue to block the circus just as Rio Rancho has.
Call state fair officials at 505-222-9700 and politely urge them not to allow Ringling to perform. You can follow up your call with an e-mail to the general manager of the state fair, Dan Mourning.
"As a lifelong Democrat, I never thought I'd lead an effort to defend the symbol of the Republican Party," writes Alec Baldwin in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Baldwin is sending Vilsack the video he hosted for PETA exposing Ringling Bros.' abuse of animals and asking the USDA to take action.
Despite the fact that many states and cities have animal protection laws in place that prohibit abuse such as beating animals with steel-tipped bullhooks, forcing crippled animals to work, or keeping animals in chains, state and local laws often go unenforced, and circuses like Ringling continue their cruel business as usual. But the USDA has the power to change that.
Local laws designed to protect these animals are not being enforced because the circus skirts authorities or uses its financial clout to get them to look the other way," wrote Alec. "That's why I am writing to you and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to step up and enforce the Animal Welfare Act.
Under the Animal Welfare Act, the USDA has the power to seize all of Ringling's arthritic elephants who are forced to perform, meaning that these animals, who are beaten day after day to make them to perform painful stunts, could then be retired to sanctuaries. It would be another positive step for the USDA to take toward protecting animals from cruelty, after last year's landmark $270,000 fine levied against Ringling for animal welfare violations.
Join Alec in asking the USDA to step up in behalf of elephants once again.
Yep, you read that right.
We want to thank Kanye West for the shout-out to PETA in his new song, "Theraflu." While the aptly named tune does make us want to reach for an over-the-counter remedy as Kanye opines about his inexplicable penchant for slinging tortured dead animals across his back, the song did make #tellPETA trend on Twitter worldwide, giving us a great opportunity to educate people about the revolting cruelty of the fur industry. #TellKanye that 60 beautiful minks have to die to make one ugly coat.
Compassionate rapper Waka Flocka Flame could give Ye some pointers—his "Only Cowards Abuse Animals" PETA ad appears in this month's YRB magazine. (Last month, the mag featured Chris "The Birdman" Andersen's colorful anti-fur ad.)
The cover of the May issue of Vanity Fair features the fair face of fur foe Grace Park, looking as stunning in white as she did in her PETA "Save the Seals" ad.
Fellow seal savior Christian Serratos tweeted her support for PETA's campaign this week: "The Canadian seal slaughter has begun. Pls help @PETA stop the bloody massacre NOW!"
Mickey Rourke saved a stray dog he found on a movie set in Romania. Now Foxy has a great new home with Rourke and his other beloved pups, including Jaws, who stars with Rourke in his animal birth control ad:
Photo: Faubel Christensen
When Pamela Anderson visited Turkey and noticed that the country's streets were also teeming with strays, she went on a mission to persuade officials there to adopt an aggressive spay-and-neuter campaign.
Ryan Gosling was a savior for a woman who was almost hit by a taxi in New York City. His lifesaving heroics for people and advocacy for chickens make Ryan a heartthrob with a heart of gold.
Lance Armstrong seems to be made of steel, and now he's living strong thanks to eating mostly vegan foods.
Maybe he'll start whipping up homemade meals from the Candle Café like Christina Applegate.
A vegan eatery led to love for Alec Baldwin, who got engaged this week to Hilaria Thomas, whom he met at Pure Food and Wine.
Christina Aguilera took both her loves—her boyfriend and her son—to Cirque du Soleil, scoring herself a thank-you card from PETA for supporting a circus with only human performers.
To keep up with what your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Dancing goats, Alec Baldwin, and Etch-A-Sketch—you never know what delights you'll find on PETA's Tumblr page.
After hearing that Noel Gallagher expressed excitement about teaching his sons to "throw stuff at cows," Joan Jett called out the former Oasis frontman, stating:
"This guy is a putz! I am embarrassed he is Irish and from [the] same county as my grandparents on my father's side. Maybe if this bully wants to throw things, he should try throwing something at somebody who can fight back, like me."
We'll keep you updated on whether Gallagher decides to pick on somebody from his own species. Meanwhile, elsewhere in celebrityland, plenty of other stars are throwing their support at animals, including Alec Baldwin, who unveiled his new circus exposé for PETA at a news conference in New York City.
And Kellan Lutz revealed his PETA billboard in Los Angeles to his Twitter followers in a picture that's worthy of its own bedroom wall space.
In other vampire/werewolf news, PETA buddies Famke Janssen and Eli Roth are working together on Netflix's adaptation of the otherworldly novel Hemlock Grove. You can bet that this will be an animal-friendly set.
Photo by Andrew Southam/Weiss Artists Inc. For The Cloutier Agency: Hair by Charles Dujic Makeup by Tracy Sondern Styling by Heidi Meek Props by Darren Ransdell
And "animal-friendly" also describes the set that Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt shared while making Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Ewan told Conan O'Brien that his rescued dog Sid loved going to work with him, and he even attached a sidecar to his motorcycle for toting Sid along.
First dog Bo Obama is always right in the middle of his family's adventures. Michelle Obama told David Letterman, "He is my son. I have two girls and a boy."
Sophia Bush's US Weekly magazine list of "25 Things You Don't Know About Me" includes her rescued pit bulls Patch and Penny. Sophia has a huge heart for animals, and we hope all of her #LittleVoices join her in supporting animal adoption!
Here's something that you may not have known about Diane Keaton: In her new memoir, Then Again, she talks about being a vegetarian for the past 25 years. Join Diane in going vegetarian—order a free vegetarian/vegan starter kit here, and help save animals, protect the environment, and preserve your health.
Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Geoff Blum announced that he did a vegan cleanse that helped him drop 10 pounds and recover from knee surgery. We hope his vegan adventure continues, so we're sending him a copy of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness by Robert Cheeke for tips on how to stay fit for the field on a plant-based diet.
Keep up with the latest celebrity animal news by following @PETA on Twitter.
What does Alec Baldwin never leave home without? No, not his iPhone—his PETA membership card, of course!
Alec knows that a PETA membership card is a great way to show your compassion for animals, and of course, all year long, your tax-deductible donation will work to save animals from suffering.
For just $16 a year—4 cents a day—you can put humane-education materials in classrooms, provide aspiring vegans with the tools they need to save animals every time they eat, and give doghouses to cold, chained dogs. You can place cameras in the hands of PETA's undercover investigators, spay and neuter dogs and cats, and send PETA's "Leopard Ladies" out on the road to educate shoppers about the cruelty of wearing fur.
And if you become a PETA member before the end of this month, you'll give animals even more—a donor has agreed to contribute $10 for every new member who joins in January. You'll also get a yearlong subscription to Animal Times magazine and a 2012 "Rescued" calendar packed with pictures of beautiful animals who were saved because of people like you.
We're aiming to start 2012 off with a bang—with 2,012 new members. Click here to become a card-carrying PETA member like Alec Baldwin today!
Written by PETA
Telemundo host Natalia Villaveces' new PETA ad was unveiled in South Beach yesterday, and Spanish-language media, including People en Español and CNN en Español went a little, well, bananas.
Villaveces credits PETA's Alec Baldwin-narrated video "Meet Your Meat" with convincing her to switch to a vegan diet. "Once I made that connection between loving an animal and eating an animal is when things click[ed] in my brain," she says.
Want to help someone you know relate to who's on their plate? Send them a link to "Meet Your Meat" or post it on your Facebook page.
Written by Alisa Mullins
In honor of Father's Day, here are some fathers who are friends to the furry, feathered, and finned. We had way too many great dads like Kevin Nealon, Bryan Adams, Woody Harrelson, Iggy Pop, and Chad Ochocinco to choose from, so here are just a few of the fellas who make us glad for awesome dads:
OK, so we didn't get to see a song-and-dance number featuring Steve Martin and vegetarian Alec Baldwin—who also narrated PETA's now-classic documentary Meet Your Meat—but we're still pretty happy about how the highly buzzed Food Inc./Cove face-off turned out.
The Oscar for Best Documentary went to frontrunner The Cove—the universally acclaimed examination of Japan's bloody dolphin trade and slaughter. And in one of the most inspiring moments of the night, Ric O'Barry proved that he'll stop at nothing to end the slaughter by displaying a sign encouraging people to get active for dolphins during his acceptance speech.
The win couldn't have come at a better time for captive marine wildlife, as Sea World and other parks come under increasing scrutiny for their abysmal record of injuries and deaths of both trainers and animals in the wake of last month's incident at SeaWorld.
On the red carpet, The Cove's director Louie Psihoyos put it best when he said, "One animal killing three people in one lifetime shows these animals are stressed, they don't belong in captivity. And when we capture them out of the wild and force them to do stupid tricks for our amusement, it says more about our intelligence than it does theirs."
Written by Logan Scherer
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!