July 2002 A BMW truck driver in Greer, South Carolina, called PETA to report that birds were dying from being trapped behind a dilapidated net installed years ago to prevent them from roosting in the rafters of the plant. After several attempts to contact the operations manager, we sent a letter to BMW’s president asking for … Read more »
July 2002 A Long Island, New York, teen coated his family’s parakeet with hairspray and set fire to her, then posted images of the burning animal and of himself–laughing and giving the thumbs-up sign–on the Internet. Although New York state law defines such an act as felony cruelty to animals, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office … Read more »
July 2002 When a Tustin, California, security guard was charged with cruelty to animals for beating an opossum to death with a flashlight, PETA sent a letter to the Orange County prosecuting attorney urging a vigorous prosecution. The man pleaded guilty to the charges and received a sentence of three years’ probation, 60 hours of community … Read more »
July 2002 Aron Bright, a wrestling coach at Avon High School in Cloverdale, Washington, admitted to biting the head off a live sparrow in front of his team. PETA sent a letter to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department asking that Bright be charged with cruelty to animals, and we also posted an action alert to members. … Read more »
July 2002 PETA was contacted about a parrot named Chico kept alone in a cage at a retirement home called Seashore Gardens in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The center considered Chico part of its pet therapy program. We wrote to Seashore Gardens to ask that Chico be allowed to live out the remainder of his life … Read more »
July 2002 PETA learned from a member that the Greenville Wildlife Park planned to make appearances at libraries all across New Hampshire and other venues in the region. We sent a mailing to the 250 libraries in the state and to other businesses where the exhibit was scheduled to appear. Our letters explained that Greenville Wildlife … Read more »
July 2002 PETA, Earth Island Institute, and several other organizations asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deny requests from two Japanese aquariums to capture wild Alaskan sea otters for the purpose of public display. As a result, USFWS denied both of the permit applications.
July 2002 A binturong, a nocturnal Asian bearcat, was found one morning, sleeping on a local couple’s front porch in Economy, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission took custody of the animal, who had been obtained and kept illegally. PETA contacted the game commission to recommend that permanent custody of the animal be given to a respected … Read more »
July 2002 When PETA learned that businesses in Hampton Roads, Virginia, including a health food store, botanical gardens, and garden center, had begun selling AquaBabies, cruel 4-inch cubes containing fish, frogs, and/or snails, we immediately contacted the stores’ managers. We provided them with information that we had gathered from experts who declared the trinkets inadequate and … Read more »
July 2002 A San Antonio, Texas, city golf-course employee stabbed to death four feral pigs after the animals were caught in live traps at the course. PETA wrote numerous letters and submitted a legal brief explaining why the man should be prosecuted for cruelty to animals. In the meantime, the man was fired from his job, … Read more »
July 2002 PETA received calls of concern about bird displays at various Von Maur department store locations. Von Maur is an upscale department store chain with 20 stores in six Midwestern states. We wrote to the president of Von Maur asking that the company consider dismantling the displays and allowing the birds to go to sanctuaries. … Read more »
July 2002 When PETA discovered that the Wild Oats natural foods markets were using glue traps to capture and kill mice in their stores, we wrote the CEO a letter and sent graphic photos of several mice captured and killed on glue traps. We also posted an action alert asking our members to contact Wild Oats. … Read more »
July 2002 When we heard that the Cleveland City Council was considering an ordinance that would ban the possession of exotic animals as “pets,” we wrote to each council member as well as the mayor to voice our support. We sent each official information about the cruelty and dangers associated with “owning” exotic animals and alerted … Read more »
July 2002 For years, the Colorado and Minnesota Renaissance festivals have included an animal exhibit called the Center for Endangered Cats in their yearly events as “entertainment.” We contacted the directors of each festival to make them aware of the cruelty associated with this “attraction,” including the fact that its executive director has been convicted of … Read more »
July 2002 When we heard that the notoriously cruel traveling animal display, The Zoo, had set up in the parking lot of a Tampa, Florida, Kash n’ Karry, we immediately wrote to the store’s manager, providing information about the outfit’s long history of animal abuse and neglect. We also wrote to Kash n’ Karry’s chief operating … Read more »
