Written by PETA
Authorities at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport arrested a man headed to Dubai who had "a virtual zoo" of baby exotic animals stuffed in cages and canisters inside his suitcases. Anti-trafficking officers had been tracking the smuggler since he purchased two leopards, two panthers, an Asiatic black bear, and two macaque monkeys, and they believe that he is part of a wildlife smuggling network.
Unfortunately, wildlife trafficking isn't limited to Thailand and Dubai. Before it was shut down following a PETA investigation, Texas-based U.S. Global Exotics (USGE) was a major player in the exotic-animal trade, importing and exporting hundreds of thousands of animals annually for years and supplying animals to companies and dealers all over the world, including PetSmart and PETCO.
Animals are still suffering at similar facilities, and they will continue to do so as long as people buy exotic animals from pet stores. Please encourage anyone you know who wants to share their home with an animal always to adopt and never buy.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
I have to admit that I don’t have a very good head for figures, but the math here seems pretty straightforward. And while we’re talking numbers, selling people dogs and cats when there are between 6 and 8 million waiting for homes in shelters every year is about as dumb as shelling out a thousand dollars for an animal at Petland when you could be rescuing one of the 3 to 4 million who will be euthanized this year for lack of a good home.
These pics are from Friday’s demonstration outside an Orlando Petland where we debuted our new “Priceless” ads, which make a simple but effective point to potential pet store customers.
Here’s a taste of what PETA UK’s been doing with the money they received from Covance Inc. following the dismissal of Covance’s lawsuit against them. Karma’s a bitch, sometimes.
Up until Wednesday, you can put yourself in the running to earn a bit of spending money over at Helium.com just for doing what you do so well right here on this very blog. Anyone interested can head over there and post your thoughts on topics ranging from “PETA’s Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign” to “How to End Animal Homelessness”. Check it out here if it strikes your fancy.
They’ve got a nice little community going over there, and the articles make for some pretty interesting (and, yes, occasionally infuriating) reading.
Washoe, the chimpanzee who became world-famous after learning sign language and teaching it to other primates, died last week in Washington State. PETA’s Primate Specialist, Debra Durham, wrote this great op-ed about Washoe, and what we can learn from her experience, which appeared in The Saint Paul Pioneer Press yesterday. Check it out:
What We Learned From a ChimpBY DEBRA DURHAMLast week, we mourned the loss of an icon - Washoe. She was one of the few chimpanzees people are likely to know by name - in large part because she learned to use American Sign Language. She famously taught it to fellow chimpanzees, and the people who know her best shared stories about her fibs and her apparent sense of humor. Was it language? It seems that not everyone is convinced, but does that matter? No one disputes that communication took place. Whether human or chimpanzee, Washoe's companions shared and created meaning with her.Thanks to decades of fieldwork by scientists from around the globe, we know a great deal about chimpanzees like Washoe, who was herself taken from Africa decades ago. In June, scientists explained how chimpanzees would freely choose to help a human if they saw that he or she needed help.In March, news stories came out about chimpanzees who showed particular kindness and understanding to group members who had cerebral palsy. If we add these to the long list of things once thought to be the special domain of humans - culture, tool use, the capacity for language - the gap between humans and chimpanzees becomes smaller and smaller. We are not identical, but we have a great deal in common.This isn't altogether surprising as chimpanzees are our closest primate relatives, sharing 98 or 99 percent of our DNA. We've all heard that chimpanzees are smart and that they are an endangered species. But Washoe revealed to us something beyond our broad similarities.Some people writing about her death have claimed that she changed what it meant to be human - that she changed our society. That, I suppose, is true - but there is more to that lesson. Washoe also helped us see what it means to be chimpanzee. When she spoke her mind, signing about her wants and needs, playing jokes or tricks, showing empathy, she embodied a message of compassion - one that we have not fully heard.Neither the knowledge of our commonalities with chimpanzees - cognitive, cultural and otherwise - nor their capacity to suffer has inspired adequate protection for these animals. Despite their bright minds and unique personalities, many chimpanzees spend their lives inside small metal laboratory cages, where they endure terror, physical pain and trauma. People may be shocked to learn that laboratories in the United States are allowed to keep chimpanzees in cages about the size of a kitchen table.In light of the lessons taught by Washoe, her fellow signing apes, and all that we know about chimpanzees, we must now realize that how we currently keep and treat chimpanzees in U.S. laboratories is replete with ethical problems. It's time for the United States to join nations all over the world, from Austria to Liberia and New Zealand, that have banned experiments on chimpanzees. It is the right and compassionate thing to do. I'm sure that Washoe would have signed that she agreed.
To be honest, I’m having trouble coming up with a decent intro to this video. It’s a behind the scenes look at the companion animal overpopulation crisis, from the perspective of a woman who deals with it every day, up close and personal. It really made me think about what an absolute joke the whole idea of “responsible” breeding is, when millions of animals are killed annually for one simple reason: there just aren’t enough good homes for them.
Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think.
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!