Written by Jennifer OConnor
It took a PETA lawsuit to compel the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to change course, but after three decades of secretly and illegally issuing hundreds of Endangered Species Act (ESA) permits to circuses, roadside zoos, and other animal exploiters, the FWS will change its ways.
The permits—called "captive-bred wildlife (CBW) permits"—previously allowed animal exhibitors like the notorious Ringling Bros. circus and Have Trunk Will Travel to harm and harass captive-bred endangered animals like Asian elephants without any public scrutiny or comments on their plans. Now, anytime circuses and operators of traveling and roadside displays want to "take" an endangered species (which includes harming, harassing, and wounding them to force them to perform in shows), they will be subjected to public scrutiny and forced to adhere to ESA requirements.
An example of how all this can help animals harkens back to one of PETA's earliest exposés—this one involving Las Vegas "entertainer" Bobby Berosini, whose CBW permit was suspended (and his show closed) after PETA revealed that he had viciously beaten the orangutans used in his tawdry act.
Ringling Bros. circus has a pending CBW permit application that would allow it to take endangered elephants and leopards, so please click here to voice your objections to the FWS right now.
Written by PETA
Even if you're not an avid baseball fan, you've probably heard of Tony La Russa, one of the greatest managers of all time, who made headlines this week by announcing his retirement right after steering the St. Louis Cardinals to their dramatic victory in this year's World Series. La Russa is also an all-star for animals who is a longtime vegetarian and PETA supporter, as well as the founder of his own animal protection group, the Animal Rescue Foundation.
La Russa has been defending animals for decades. When seedy Las Vegas showman Bobby Berosini was caught on tape beating orangutans with bars and punching them in the face in 1989, La Russa flew to Vegas with other sympathetic celebrities to condemn the abuse. After his case wound through the courts for years, Berosini was ultimately forced to pay PETA $400,000 in court costs and relinquished custody of the orangutans.
La Russa also led PETA supporters in a "fur funeral" outside the Seattle Fur Exchange to bring attention to the fact that animals on fur farms are kept in cramped, filthy cages and are killed by genital electrocution. In the "eulogy" that he delivered, La Russa stated, "Fur is something to be ashamed of." He also starred in a PETA ad against American Express when the credit card giant was selling fur in its catalog (the company eventually bowed to pressure and pulled the pelts).
We congratulate Tony La Russa on a long and successful career and wish him the best in his retirement!
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
Breaking news here folks, and it's been 17 years in the making: In 1989, a video camera caught nightclub entertainer Bobby Berosini beating and punching the orangutans he used in his act at the Stardust. This week, Berosini lost yet another round in the court battle that has been going on ever since.
Instead of just paying PETA's court costs when we won the case the first time round, Berosini was forced by a federal district court to pay more than $250,000 incurred by PETA’s attorneys in trying to locate assets that he and his wife, Joan Berosini, had hidden after the initial legal battle. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that payment order, on top of the more than $400,000 in court costs Berosini had previously paid PETA. The real victory here, though, is for the animals depicted in the video below, which (just in case it wasn't clear from the whole hiding money and trying to manipulate the justice system deal) shows exactly what sort of a person this Berosini guy is.
$250,000 dollars is a hell of a lot of money to have paid, but after watching that video again, I'm not exactly welling up with sympathy for Mr. Berosini's misfortunes. As PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk puts it,
“There’s a lesson here for any entertainers who still feel that beating animals is acceptable. Berosini kept intelligent apes locked up in steel boxes for years, and he can never pay back the animals for the nightly beating they endured.”
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.
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