Written by Jennifer OConnor
Lions will no longer be forced to spend their days in the middle of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas after the display closes for good on January 31.
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In their natural savannah home, lions roam many miles of territory, hunt, raise their young, and avoid all contact with blackjack tables and slot machines. But at the MGM Grand, lions are confined to a display made of artificial rock and floor-to-ceiling glass, allowing them no privacy and no opportunity to escape crowds of gawking tourists. The stress and unnatural conditions led to at least two lion attacks on handlers at the display, prompting PETA to successfully appeal to the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration to cite the exhibitor, Keith Evans, for workplace safety violations and to fine him. On top of the state citations, Evans was also cited by federal officials for illegally declawing two lion cubs.
PETA had appealed to the management of the Strip landmark for years to eliminate the cruel and dangerous display, for which lions were hauled back and forth between the casino and Evans' off-site facility. Now, we are offering to assist MGM with placing the cats into reputable sanctuaries.
Please click here to give a roar of gratitude to MGM management for discontinuing the display and to ask that they work with Evans to retire the lions to reputable sanctuaries using funds that have been set aside for the animals' care.
Written by PETA
In response to the tragic bloodshed that occurred in Zanesville, Ohio, on Tuesday, the governor of Ohio has issued an executive order that directs state agencies to increase inspections of facilities that harbor exotic animals and sets up a hotline for the public to report unsafe exotic-animal situations. While PETA is glad that the governor is finally taking action on this issue, it is too little, too late, for the dozens of animals who were shot dead in Zanesville.
The executive order does nothing to address the fundamental problem—the fact that the state of Ohio allows private citizens to keep wild animals, which poses a danger to both animals and people. Just last year, a privately held bear mauled and killed a young man in Cleveland. That's why PETA is calling on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to exercise its authority to implement emergency regulations to prohibit the keeping of exotic and wild animals immediately.
The governor's executive order indicates that a legal framework for regulating dangerous wild animals will be proposed by November 30, but there is no need for delay: A ban on the private ownership of wild animals should be put in place right away.
Exotic and wild animals kept as pets always pay the price, whether they are shot and killed, as happened in Zanesville, or confined to backyards, basements, or garages, forced to lead lonely, desolate lives that are devoid of anything that they would experience naturally in the wild.
PETA, along with other animal protection organizations, sanctuaries, zoological facilities, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), condemns the private ownership of exotic and wild animals as pets—both for the animals' protection and the public's safety.
Please click here to visit the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website and politely urge the agency to exercise its authority to implement emergency regulations to prohibit the keeping of exotic and wild animals. Let's help ensure that a tragedy like the one in Zanesville has little chance of happening again.
Zanesville, Ohio, sheriff's deputies armed with assault rifles opened fire on dozens of "mature, very big, aggressive" lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, and bears who had escaped from a private menagerie in Ohio after the farm's owner, Terry Thompson, was found dead and the animals' cage doors were left open and fences unsecured. Primates were found locked in cages inside the house. 48 animals were killed.
Thompson had a long history of brushes with the law and had just completed a one-year sentence on two federal counts of possessing illegal firearms. In November 2005, Thompson was convicted of, among other things, cruelty to animals and was subsequently sentenced to six months of house arrest and fined $2,870. PETA had filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding Thompson's illegal activities, including exhibiting animals without a license and declawing tiger cubs in violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Ohio has no regulations governing the ownership of exotic and dangerous animals. Exotic animals all over the state languish without adequate food, water, and veterinary care. They eat rotten scraps, drink algae-laden water, and spend their days pacing on feces- and urine-encrusted dirt. Just last April, Ohio Gov. John Kasich refused to extend an emergency ban on exotic animals in the state, which was put in place by his predecessor. PETA has campaigned for an outright ban for many years.
Please join PETA in asking the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to exercise its authority to declare emergency regulations to prohibit the keeping of exotic animals and also seize the animals over whom the agency has jurisdiction and see that they are placed in reputable sanctuaries.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will go far and wide to find more animals to exploit. Feld Entertainment, which owns this wretchedly cruel circus, has applied to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to import eight tigers and one leopard who are currently being used in a circus in Germany. PETA has submitted comments and extensive supporting materials in opposition to this application, including a statement from a renowned tiger expert.
The Endangered Species Act prohibits the importation of endangered species except for "scientific purposes" or to benefit the survival of the species. Hard to make any of that comport with Ringling's desire to haul the big cats around in boxcars and use whips to make them hop on their hind legs.
Federal law also strictly prohibits transporting any endangered species in the course of a "commercial activity," and there is no question that the Ringling Bros. Circus is exactly that. The law further prohibits harming, harassing, and wounding endangered species and requires that they be maintained under humane and healthful conditions. Ringling's well-documented history of animal abuse is clearly grounds to reject its import application, as PETA points out:
Please share this troubling information with all the parents you know and urge them never to buy a ticket to Ringling or any circus using animals.
Written by Jennifer O’Connor
Last week, we told you about Tucson, Arizona, restaurant owner Bryan Mazon's plan to serve lion tacos as part of his "Exotic Taco Wednesdays" promotion. Apparently, thousands of people took to Facebook to ask Mazon to reconsider. And he did! Mazon announced that his restaurant will not be serving the king of the jungle after all.
Now that a lion has been saved from slaughter (or possibly from being shot on a cruel canned hunting ranch), you might want to take a moment to thank Mazon for making this lifesaving decision. Written by Michelle Sherrow
A Tucson, Arizona, restaurant owner has decided that the best way to drum up business for his taco stand is to serve lion meat. Hasn't he ever heard of coupons? About six months ago, Bryan Mazon, owner of Boca Tacos y Tequila, started featuring what he calls Exotic Taco Wednesdays, during which he serves up turtle, kangaroo, alligator, python, and other exotic animals. Now, in a move that we're pretty sure would make Mufasa toss him right off of Pride Rock, Mazon wants to serve tacos made with lion meat.
As appalling as this idea is, it gets worse: Those tacos may include someone's former "pet." Lion meat in the U.S. comes from lions who have spent their lives in backyard cages, zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, roadside menageries, and circuses. When the novelty of keeping them wears off or when zoos need to make room for cute new babies, lions are sold at auction, where they may be purchased by slaughterhouses or canned hunting ranches.
Mazon says he has heard from protesters and people who want to know if serving meat from exotic animals is legal. (Unfortunately, it is, if the species in question isn't endangered.) "In all reality, what I want is just people to know that I'm here," he said. "That's the way to do it." Really? Funny, because I bet loads more people have heard of yummy and meat-free Boca burgers than have heard of you. Hmmm.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
After allowing a lion named Casimiro—who had spent nearly three decades in captivity—to suffer an agonizingly slow and painful death, a zoo in Maturín, Venezuela, is now reportedly planning to acquire several new lions to "replace" Casimiro. This would sentence another generation of lions—smart and sensitive animals who long to be free—to the frustration, boredom, and loneliness of life in a barren concrete cell.
Well, not if María Conchita Alonso has anything to say about it. The actor and former Miss Venezuela has fired off a letter on behalf of PETA to Maturín Mayor José Vicente Maicavares, writing the following:
"I have seen the photographs of Casimiro that were reportedly taken prior to his death. They show him wasting away in a tiny cell on a filthy concrete floor while covered with raw wounds and open sores. It devastates me to know that the beautiful country that I grew up in would allow this to happen, and I am even more alarmed by the fact that it could happen again if you don't intervene."
Of course, this isn't the only zoo where animals have suffered and died because of disrespect for their nature, blatant neglect, inadequate living environments, or improper care. Please join María in objecting to the suffering that animals like Casimiro endure in captivity by refusing to set foot inside zoos and urging everyone you know to do the same. You can also write a polite letter to the mayor to encourage him to use his influence to urge the zoo to forgo any future lion displays:
The Honorable José Vicente Maicavares| Mayor of Maturín Palacio Municipal, entre Av. Bolívar y Azcúe Piso 1 Maturín, Venezuela
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
The biggest losers in Las Vegas are the animals who are used as entertainment props, such as the lions at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino—one of whom recently snapped and attacked a trainer. The event was caught on video. Just two years ago, another trainer was attacked by a lion in the display, and everyone remembers the attack involving Siegfried and Roy, who tried to disguise the incident by saying that the big cat was protecting the man who was dominating him—right, by grabbing him by the throat. These stressed, would-be-wild animals are ticking time bombs.
We have appealed to MGM management to do away with this old-fashioned display. Living in a casino and being forced into close contact with hoards of tourists is no life at all for wild animals. Lions are meant to roam freely across vast territories, exploring, playing with their cubs, and ruling the jungle.
Please tell the MGM management that you'll be spending your Vegas money elsewhere until the lion display is gone for good.
Today, I sing the praises of the Internet. Not for e-mail—which is handy, yes—but all that Viagra spam irks me. (Hello? It's called "Veggie Viagra"). Or online games (like I need another addiction. The real reason I love the Internet so much is because now my "cosmic justice file" has grown exponentially and now comes with an international flavor.
Let's have a looksie at some of my faves, shall we?
Now, tell which of the above is your favorite example of cosmic justice.
Written by Karin Bennett
Back in May, we told you that a bill was under consideration in Bolivia to ban all animals from circuses—and that bill was recently made law! With the passage of law number 4040 by Bolivian President Evo Morales, the day has finally arrived when "It is forbidden to use wild and/or domestic animals in circuses throughout the country." As far as we know, Bolivia is the first country in the world to enact such a landmark measure for animals abused in circuses.
Bolivia is no stranger to looking out for animals. The country already set a precedent when it banned its military from mutilating dogs and other animals during training exercises. And with the passage of this new law, elephants, lions, tigers, horses, dogs, and all other animals who are forced to live in shackles or cages—and are routinely beaten into submission in order to perform unnatural circus "tricks"—will no longer be subjected to these cruelties in Bolivia.
And as if that weren't enough, PETA is now working closely with the Bolivian government on the country's first national animal protection framework law. If the measure is adopted, it would make Bolivia a global leader in animal welfare.
With the way things are moving, it seems that animals in Bolivia are on a fast track to having all the simple inalienable rights they deserve.
On behalf of animals in Bolivia, muchas gracias to President Morales, Member of Congress Ximena Flores, and concerned citizen Ana Serrano Revollo for all their hard work in making this law prohibiting animal circuses a reality!
Written by Missy Lane
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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.