Earlier this week, we posted undercover video footage taken by London-based Animal Defenders International showing a handler who used a pitchfork and a club to viciously beat an elephant named Annie. When confronted with the video, the elephant’s owner, Bobby Roberts, wisely scrambled to save face by allowing Annie to retire from his “Super Circus” and … Read more »
Rock icon and animal defender Pink recently fired off a letter to President Obama asking him to find out why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has closed three investigations into serious allegations of cruelty to animals by the Ringling Bros. circus without taking action. The investigations expired because of the statute of limitations—a delay … Read more »
Undercover footage released by London-based Animal Defenders International shows an elephant handler with the “Super Circus” as he viciously kicks and beats a chained 58-year-old elephant named Annie with a pitchfork and a club. At one point, it appears that the elephant, who was taken from the wild as a child for a lifetime of servitude … Read more »
Just weeks after we told you about the slaughter of 100 dogs by a dogsled tour operator in British Columbia, 14 dogs used to pull sleds near Southend, Saskatchewan, have been killed after one of the dogs, who had been temporarily let off her tether, attacked a 4-year-old boy. The boy was hospitalized, and the dog … Read more »
Steven Seagal rides in on a tank, trailed by a line of armored cars. The tank reaches its target, and with one mighty shove, it levels the tall security fence. Seagal jumps out, flanked by the sheriff and his deputies, dust billowing around them. Seagal races to guard the far side of the house as … Read more »
Minarae/cc by 2.0 Great news out of Knoxville: The Knoxville Zoo has decided to permanently employ the protected contact (PC) system to manage the elephants there. PETA has been urging the zoo to switch to PC, which involves using a barrier such as a metal screen, bars, or a restraint chute to separate elephants and handlers at … Read more »
Knut, the polar bear cub who was the toast of the Berlin Zoo four short years ago, is dead. He was only 4 years old. Months ago, PETA Germany had warned the head of the zoo that Knut was being terrorized by his three female companions, one being his mother, Tosca, (who had once been used … Read more »
So long, rat torture! After a year-long PETA campaign and complaints from students and our supporters, a neuroscience class at the University of Texas–Dallas dropped a deadly classroom experiment on rats from its curriculum. Previously, students in the class had to drill holes into rats’ skulls, cause brain damage with toxic chemicals, force the rats … Read more »
PETA has asked officials with Tennessee’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health to penalize the Knoxville Zoo for repeatedly allowing handlers to come into direct contact with the elephants there. Handler Stephanie James was crushed to death when an elephant named Edie pushed her into a bar in her enclosure in January. sdixclifford/cc by 2.0 Despite a … Read more »
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … Steve-O! The vegan comedian and daredevil led a PETA protest outside the Edmonton Valley Zoo to call on zoo officials to allow Lucy, the ailing and lonely elephant at the zoo, to retire to an elephant sanctuary. “I’m sympathetic to Lucy because I know that elephants in their … Read more »
A photojournalist spent days riding through the Burmese jungle on a motorbike in an attempt to capture on film how elephants are “trained” before being smuggled out of Burma and sold into slavery to perform in circuses and street shows in Thailand. Brent Lewin’s prize-winning photograph is leaving viewers horrified in disbelief. During the training session that … Read more »
From coast to coast, cities are hosting alternatives to the cruel Iditarod—which began yesterday and will cause dogs to suffer and some even to die over the next two weeks. But in these entertaining events, no dogs will be paying with their lives. Check ’em out: pattista/cc by 2.0 Pennsylvania’s Cedar Ridge Wild and Wacky … Read more »
UPDATE: Last week, Doug Terranova resigned from his position as zookeeper at the Dallas Zoo citing “issues in his business and personal life”. Let’s hope he stays far, far away from any animals. An exotic-animal trainer’s days of abusing exotic animals may be coming to an end. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just … Read more »
Dawn Forsythe was just a young girl in the 1950s when her dad, Arthur, got a job at the Detroit Zoo training chimpanzees to perform in shows. She grew up with the chimpanzees and was allowed behind the scenes of the shows, where the animals were housed and trained. She recalls holding the hand of … Read more »
