Written by Michelle Sherrow
Update: Tom and Misha were released back into the ocean earlier this month and within hours were already chasing and hunting fish together and socializing with other wild dolphins. Born Free kept their release on May 9 a secret to avoid human interference with Tom's and Misha's progress, but satellite transmitters on their dorsal fins show that since their release, the dolphins have already traveled hundreds of miles and are healthy and eating well.
Two dolphins who were formerly held captive for four years as part of a swim-with-dolphins program will finally be released back into their native habitat later this spring.
Captured and imprisoned in a tiny tank in Hisaronu, Turkey, bottlenose dolphins Tom and Misha were denied everything natural to them and forced to perform for a constant barrage of tourists. Their future seemed bleak until the Born Free Foundation, a British organization that campaigns in behalf of animals in zoos and aquariums, embarked on a mission to win their freedom. With the help of PETA Germany, which posted an action alert on its website, wrote to Hisaronu's mayor, and coordinated actions with Turkish animal rights groups, Born Free got Tom and Misha released to a marine reserve in the Mediterranean Sea and began preparing them for life in the ocean.
pmarkham|cc by 2.0
Because of the stress of intensive confinement, the dolphins were weak, underweight, and lethargic when they arrived at the reserve. But after two years of nurturing, they are healthier and stronger and, most importantly, are starting to catch fish on their own, a sign that they are nearly ready to be released on schedule in late spring. Once again, they will be able to swim for up to 100 miles a day and use their sonar to explore the ocean.
If you love dolphins, please don't pay for them to be imprisoned and tormented in swim-with-dolphins exhibitions. By contrast, programs like the one at the Florida Keys' John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park allow you to interact with dolphins in their home—on their terms.
When successful gourmet food connoisseur and upscale hotel manager Eva-Miriam Gerstner talks turkey, Europeans listen. And when she talks goose, well, that makes for an in-your-face anti–foie gras ad that made several German luxury hotels and restaurants stop serving the cruelly produced dish "cold turkey" after PETA Germany sent them a copy.
Photo: Marc Rehbeck • Hair/Makeup: Maike Albeck c/o LIGANORD • Postproduction: Andrea Hildebrandt • Studio: Aplanat • wire.
If restaurants in your area are still serving foie gras, please follow Eva-Miriam's example and be a mouthpiece for ducks and geese.
Written by PETA
Did you know that in Ukraine, a dog or cat found wandering the streets can be shot on sight or poisoned and left to suffer? Their bodies are tossed into a cremation truck and burned, and some are reportedly burned while alive. It is estimated that in the city of Kiev alone, 20,000 dogs have already been killed in these cruel ways.
Ukrainian authorities are trying to "cleanse" the country of homeless animals before it hosts the European Football Championship in 2012. At a preliminary match between Germany and Ukraine in Kiev last weekend, members of PETA Germany and the Kiev Society for the Protection of Animals protested, calling on Ukrainian authorities to stop the cruel killings and asking the Union of European Football Associations to get involved.
Many German soccer (known as "football" in other parts of the world) players have now joined PETA Germany in publicly criticizing Ukrainian authorities for the torture of these dogs and demanding that the city use humane methods to manage the homeless animal crisis. The only solution to animal overpopulation is a spay-and-neuter initiative, but in the meantime, the city's unwanted animals at least deserve a peaceful, painless end to their lives.
Please contact the Ukrainian Embassy and politely urge officials to stop these cruel killings immediately. Click here for the e-mail address for your state, or if your state is not listed, you can call 202-333-0606.
Update: Yvonne has come out of the woods and "turned herself in". She "apparently got tired of the loneliness" and hopped a fence to a farm where she grazed for awhile, and she is settling in at the Gut Aiderbichl animal sanctuary. Yvonne's son, who had been thought dead, was located by the sanctuary, and mother and son have been reunited in their new home.
It may sound like the storyline of a Disney movie, but a cow in Germany has been successfully hiding out in the woods for nearly four months after running away from a Bavarian farm, where she was being fattened for slaughter.
As Yvonne the cow eludes search teams, including the police, rescuers from an animal sanctuary, and even a helicopter equipped with a thermal camera, her escape and the subsequent search for her have generated an international media frenzy. There is even a hit song about Yvonne playing on German radio, telling her, "Don't let them take your freedom."
Authorities had previously ordered that Yvonne be shot on sight after she jumped in front of a police car, but the order was rescinded after animal rights advocates rallied to her defense, setting up Facebook pages devoted to saving her, and Germany's largest newspaper put up a reward for anyone who helped find her. If Yvonne is ever caught, she will spend the rest of her days at the Gut Aiderbichl Animal Sanctuary with her sister Waltraud and a calf named Waldi, who came from the same farm that Yvonne ran away from.
PETA Germany has talked to numerous reporters about Yvonne and has been quick to point out that she is no different from any other brainy bovine. Like Yvonne, all cows value their lives and do not want to suffer and die.
The average vegan saves 100 lives every year. To start saving cows like Yvonne yourself, order one of PETA's free vegetarian/vegan starter kits.
PETA Germany, whose pleas to zoo officials to move Knut to a less stressful environment were ignored, has asked for a tribute to the tormented bear.
PETA Germany wants to place this memorial plaque near the Brandenburg Gate. It reads, "Zoo: Not a single day in freedom, a life without dignity. Forgive us, Knut."
Don't let the appeal of a specific animal blind you to the bleak lives they lead. If you care about animals, don't buy a ticket to any zoo.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
Dozens of animals were rescued from a ramshackle farm in Arnsberg-Hüsten, Germany, after a whistleblower alerted PETA Germany that the animals were being kept in filthy, dilapidated sheds or were enclosed in broken wire fences—exposed to the elements, predators, and the beer-bottle-littered ground.
Upon investigation, staffers found 59 chickens, 34 rabbits, 25 ducks, and six geese, as well as the skins and heads of two dead rabbits and the carcasses of three dead and decaying animals, which were being eaten by rats. The whistleblower stated that the owner of the farm slaughtered animals and sold them to his neighbors.
PETA Germany staffers shot video footage, which they used to file a complaint with authorities, who ordered the farmer to surrender most of the animals. The church that owned the property also ordered the man out, and the city bulldozed the shacks. The man subsequently surrendered the rest of the animals, who were taken by PETA Germany and two other rescue groups and placed in sanctuaries. Not a bad weekend's work, PETA Germany!
German company Lohmann Tierzucht (LTZ)—the parent company of Aviagen Turkeys, Inc.—is facing cruelty-to-animals charges as a result of evidence gathered by PETA Germany. Authorities have issued warrants for alleged violations of Germany's Animal Welfare Act (including amputating the toes and crests of millions of chickens in order to distinguish their breeds and sexes). Convictions could bring sentences of up to three years of imprisonment plus fines.
You'll remember that PETA's 2008 undercover investigation of Aviagen documented that workers were breaking turkeys' necks, stomping on their heads, and shoving feces and feed into turkeys' mouths. Three former Aviagen workers were indicted on cruelty-to-animals charges—the first-ever felony indictments for cruelty to farmed birds by factory farm workers in the U.S. All three men were convicted and sentenced; one was sent to jail and all were barred from owning or working with any animals for five years.
The moral of this story: If you abuse farmed animals anywhere on the globe, sooner or later you're going to get caught.
Written by Paula Moore
This is a first: An investigation by a PETA affiliate has actually brought down a government official! The Lower Saxony minister of agriculture, Astrid Grotelüschen, has resigned after a PETA Germany investigation revealed filthy, abusive conditions on poultry farms in Mecklenburg–West Pomerania —farms that are in a business relationship with Grotelüschen's husband.
PETA Germany investigators observed that thousands of chickens and turkeys were crammed into feces-filled sheds, forced to breathe the putrid stench of excrement day in and day out. They saw birds with gaping wounds and other painful injuries. One bird was lying on his back with his legs flailing around, dying slowly and in agony. Outside the shed, there were three trash cans full of young birds who had perished in the abysmal conditions at the farm.
As agriculture minister, Grotelüschen was supposed to set the animal welfare standards for the region, yet this "fox" couldn't even be relied upon to guard the "henhouse" that was virtually in her own backyard. Citing this egregious conflict of interest, PETA Germany called for Grotelüschen to resign, and, surprisingly, she had the good grace to do so.
PETA Germany is now calling on the government to stop subsidizing intensive poultry farming, citing the cruel conditions that are standard industry practice.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Last Friday, activists around the world came out in droves to speak out for animals who are killed for their skins. In our home base of Norfolk, Virginia, more than 40 PETA staffers and supporters—including three gorgeous painted ladies—took a stand outside a local mall.
Dozens of Washington, D.C., activists held four protests in six hours, and everything went off without a hitch!
Passersby in Ottawa gasped in horror upon seeing the "after" shots of skinned animals.
The walking dead took to the streets in Germany.
Our friends AnimaNaturalis dripped with fake blood in Mexico City.
And from International Anti-Fur Coalition, a record-breaking 500 activists mobilized in Israel.
Keep on speaking up for animals who live and die in misery for the fur trade. Share the pledge to be fur-free with everyone you know!
Tokio Hotel has no reservations about speaking out against animal abuse in circuses. Just check out PETA Germany's edgy new "Stop Circus Cruelty" ad featuring Bill and Tom Kaulitz, the talented vegetarian twins behind this überpopular German rock band:
Ah, what wunderbar boys! That's German for "wonderful." Now here's the part where you can do something wunderbar for elephants who are beaten with metal-tipped bullhooks and tigers who are forced to tremble before trainers with whips. Please watch and share our undercover Ringling investigation and then take action to help ailing elephants. Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
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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