|
After lawsuits from various Conservation Groups, the United States Fish and Wildlife Services is considering adding giraffes to the Endangered Species Act. The 2018 lawsuit demands a response from a 2017 petition asking that giraffes be listed under the ESA act which would ultimately lead to significant conservation efforts that giraffe's desperately need. Giraffe populations have plunged nearly 40% in 30 years due to civil unrest, habitat loss, poaching, trophy hunting, and fragmentation. Even knowing this, the United States is one of the largest importers of giraffe parts in the form of trophies, trinkets, and other products with approximately one giraffe trophy coming into the United States every day. In fact, the United States has imported nearly 21, 200 bone carvings, 3, 000 skin pieces, and 3, 700 hunting trophies in the past 10 years. All of this knowing that giraffe populations have dropped lower than that of wild elephants and yet they remain unprotected.
It's astounding to me that the only reason the United States even begins to care about animals is because they are being sued by animal welfare and conservation groups. I can't even begin to describe how disgusted I am that it takes lawsuits to accept that a species is facing extinction. I can't help but wonder if these hunting perverts have considered what they will do when they've hunted all of these animals to extinction? These cheap thrills they experience will cost an entire species its existence and then what? What will they hunt when they've hunted them all to death? Trophy hunting is repulsive and justifies a person's desire to kill. This sick desire to shoot and end the life of another living creature for fun is despicable and in my opinion, indicative of serious mental issues. I mean, even before I stopped eating meat over 17 years ago, I never once thought it would be exciting or fun to shoot an animal and watch it die in front of me. It takes an especially twisted person to enjoy something like that especially when it comes to endangered animals. The US Fish and Wildlife Services has 12 months to respond to the lawsuits and decide whether giraffes deserve ESA protections. Take the time to contact them through social media and demand they do their part to help giraffes instead of catering to hunting perverts! Here is their official website to contact www.fws.gov/duspit/contactus.htm HAPPY VEG
0 Comments
A new study gathering data from the US Fish and Wildlife Services suggests that the Endangered Species Act has been 99% successful since its inception 1973. Created to draw attention and better protect endangered animals, marine life, and plants, it has seen a near perfect track record when it comes to protecting and rehabilitating wildlife species which is why it is so important that our governments continue to support it. It was recently reported that Ontario Canada was looking to challenge the ESA on a pay to kill basis which ultimately means that they are looking to undo years of work done to protect some of the most vulnerable species on the planet. By challenging these protections, it's quite clear that Ontario is oblivious to the necessity of protecting endangered species and their importance to a healthy ecosystem. It's not only Ontario, the United States is constantly working against the ESA in favour of wealthy benefactors and pro-hunting organizations that shoot for sport under the guise of conservation.
Even still, the work they do is a godsend to animals and plants that are facing extinction. Most recently, the United States Government has lagged in adding giraffes to the ESA which would immediately allow conservation efforts to take place but there are still giraffe trophies coming into the US and it seems unlikely that they are in any kind of hurry to help giraffes. Along with giraffes, lions and elephants face dangers from illegal poaching, habitat loss, and trophy hunting, and yet the US continues to allow hunting trophies to come into their country directly working against the efforts of conservation.
As the article from World Animal News suggests, Donald Trump's administration is single handedly unraveling decades of work the ESA has put in to protect animals and if they do not start putting in serious effort to help with conservation, we could seriously see the end of some of these magnificent creatures. Head to the link at the top of the page to read the full story on the ESA's success and better understand why their work is so important in protecting vulnerable species on our planet. HAPPY VEG New York mayor Bill De Blasio has come out in support of the Green New Deal by making some very big changes in New York. What once may have been viewed as a radical or unfounded thing to do is now a necessity according to the mayor. “You’re not going to find climate deniers in New York City because we suffered through [Hurricane] Sandy. We also believe the estimates that tell us that we have only 12 years to get it right. Let’s be clear, we have until 2030 to change things fundamentally, or our lives won’t be the same,” - Bill De Blasio Introducing the ONENYC2050 initiative, the Green new Deal will see significant changes to the way New York operates and works to implement carbon neutrality by 2050. As he stated, the people of New York have felt the devastating effects of climate change because of the powerful storms that have wreaked havoc on their city. These storms are getting worse and more powerful when they strike and it's imperative that measures are taken to stop ocean warming.
The mayor has shown a serious commitment to reducing New York's carbon footprint. He initiated Meatless Mondays in schools across New York which essentially was implemented in all 1700+ public schools realizing the devastating impact the animal agriculture industry is having on our environment.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has worked with the mayor on some of his earlier implementations and intends to run for mayor of New York after De Blasio finishes to continue the works of OneNYC2050, push for a greener New York, and promote a vegan lifestyle which is one of the best things we can do for the environment. When you consider that scientists are saying we have 13 years to significantly reduce our footprint before there's no going back, this kind of action is exactly what we need to see across the globe. Three cheers for New York!! I truly hope that this inspires other states and countries across the globe to aggressively tackle their carbon footprint because the idea that there's no going back is a truly terrifying thought that deserves appropriate action. HAPPY VEG Chinese customs intercepted a massive quantity of elephant ivory this past week marking the second largest bust of illegal ivory in history. Chinese officials have made a serious effort to stop illegal wildlife trafficking a priority and prevent future shipments by changing the attitude and consumer demand for these products by intercepting them at the border. Since the beginning of 2019, their efforts have resulted in the the activities of 27 criminal gangs having been disrupted, 171 suspects arrested and 500.5 tons of endangered animals confiscated, including 8.48 tons of ivory. Illegal wildlife poaching is a serious problem that is leading some of the world's most endangered animals towards a path of extinction. Elephants and Rhinos specifically are hunted feverishly for their ivory which is sold through black market vendors. Certain breeds of rhinos have already been poached to extinction and elephants' numbers continue to dwindle because of this. African authorities and anti-poaching units work tirelessly to protect the nation's most vulnerable animals from poaching and most recently, a death penalty was floated around as a punishment for convicted wildlife poaching.
This most recent bust shines a very dim light on a serious problem here that if not curbed, will spell the end of elephants, rhinos, and many more. Illegal poaching specifically is driving these animals to extinction and I find myself wondering what is going through these people's heads. You know, I recently debated about the death penalty in a vegan group online and a lot of them were very much against the death penalty for convicted poaching claiming that these people are often very poor and the idea of big money from these illegally hunted animals is what pushes them to do this so the punishment is too extreme. Although I agree that the death penalty is not something I typically support, we are running out of options here and I wonder if ANY of these people have pondered what their next move will be when they've successfully poached these animals to their extinction?
When it comes to punishments associated with illegal poaching, there are already heavy fines and lengthy jail sentences associated with convictions but these are not working as a deterrent. As this post suggests, people are still out there poaching these animals to their extinction so what do we do at this point? As I said, I do not support the death penalty but we are talking about the annihilation of an entire species here, what do we do about this? I argued that this would hopefully be a deterrent rather than an outcome but frankly, these animals are running out of time and extreme measures MUST be taken to protect what little animals we have left. It saddens me to think that in my lifetime I could see the end of lions, elephants, and/or giraffes. It saddens me that there are people out there who are literally risking their lives to poach these animals due to poverty. It sickens me to think that these people can't comprehend that they will inevitably end up in poverty again when they've hunted all of these animals in their entirety. The whole situation just sickens and saddens me to my core. Kudos to China for their efforts to catch illegal trafficking and here's to continued success in stopping illegal poaching! HAPPY VEG The California Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to formally oppose the Trump Administration's attempts at removing federal protections for wolves leaving them susceptible to hunting, trapping, and poisoning and effectively working against nearly 40 years of wolf recovery. In early March, the Trump Administration announced its intentions to remove the Endangered Species Act protections from almost every species of wolf across the lower United States working against decades of efforts to help rehabilitate the species. Wolves have faced many perils across the United States due to excessive hunting and even while protected, they are easily misjudged for coyotes and are often killed. Wolf populations across the United States have dropped dramatically over the years and by removing their protections, they will assuredly end up extinct.
The Trump Administration has proven time and time again that they couldn't care less for animals and have effectively worked towards promoting the extinction of animals like wolves, lions, giraffes, and elephants. His administration cares more about celebrating guns and hunting heritage than protecting the survival of an entire species and they have repeatedly made efforts to work against the Endangered Species Act. His administration not only bullies minorities, but also animals as he has repeatedly demonstrated.
The only way to prevent more animal suffering under his administration is to VOTE HIM OUT in the next election. There are so many other democratic candidates coming up that are just all around better human beings and perhaps they would also be more open to protecting animals more effectively. For now, big thanks to California who continues to be a beacon of light for animals and a shining example to the rest of the world of what it means to truly care for animals and their survival. HAPPY VEG A bill that aims to strengthen the Endangered Species Act is being introduced to prevent hunting trophies coming into the United States. By introducing the bill into the ESA which is already active, it will prevent a rush of trophies coming into the United States before the bill takes effect. This will also eliminate the International Wildlife Conservation Council created by President Trump to promote international trophy hunting.
These claims aim to distract from the endangered status of these animals by promoting conservation at the same time. As I said, it couldn't be more hypocritical to claim your actions have conservation in mind when the very animals you are paying to hunt for sport are endangered and in need of immediate protection. Lions, giraffes, elephants etc., these animals are struggling in the wild due to poaching, habitat loss, and sport hunting, so to argue that you are somehow helping them survive as a species by hunting them is blatantly hypocritical and completely incorrect. They simply want to get their rocks off so to speak by stalking and shooting endangered animals for fun. The trophies in my opinion are the worst part of the entire thing. Mounting the head of an animal on your wall is beyond twisted but even more so when you consider those animals are in desperate need of protection. What kind of sick and twisted person would want to display the slaughtered remains of an endangered animal? Hunting trophies are despicable and they don't sit in line with the supposed conservation efforts these people claim to be funding. If you care so much about protecting these animals then running around shooting them and making them into trophies to proudly display in your house doesn't correlate with those intentions.
As I said, this bill will tackle those trophies and work towards turning people away from sport hunting because in almost every case, they desire their perverted trophies. By not being allowed to bring them back, my thought is this will act as a deterrent and maybe all of those jerks can donate the money to REAL conservation efforts instead because you know, they care so much.
HAPPY VEG Animals have long been utilized by humans for a variety of purposes throughout history, some of which was purported necessity, and other situations of using animals were downright exploitation. As time has progressed, our "necessity" in using animals in almost every case has diminished yet we continue to use them without any regard. What am I talking about you ask? An example of purported use of animals would be utilizing horses for transportation. Back in time before vehicles and public transit existed, horses were used as a means of transportation through pulling carriages, transporting goods, or making our way from point A to point B. This was seen at the time as one of the few ways we could transport ourselves or our goods without having to do so by foot. As time progressed, vehicles and public transport have become readily available in almost every place in the world (with some exceptions of course) making utilizing horses for transportation a novelty means of transportation. Today, you can find horse drawn carriages pulling people through busy streets full of vehicular pollution and often times think nothing of it. This utilization of horses has now become downright exploitation.
This now brings me to situations where there was never a purported use for the animals, simply a desire to exploit them for entertainment. When you look at bullfighting, rodeos, dog or cock fighting, horse racing, circus', etc., these are entertainment usages that do not have any regard for animals' well being, rather a means to profit off of animals. There has never been a benefit to our existence as a civilization for these activities aside from entertainment and this is why activists are disdained over their continued allowance. As I said, we are now in a time in our existence where we simply have no need for using animals for entertainment. We have a plethora of technology at our fingertips that allows us to do whatever we want without ever having to step foot in a circus or a horse race and yet we continue to do so. Even when it comes to horse carriages or dog sledding, these things are outdated and we now know that they are unnecessary so they too, are exploitation of animals for our entertainment.
We need to identify as a global community that we have to do better for animals. We cannot continue to fund these entertainment based abuses of animals. We cannot continue to support any kind of exploitation of animals. Times are changing and we are seeing albeit slowly, animal entertainment being phased out. Circus' for example are being banned in many places across the globe because they are recognized as being unnecessary and cruel to animals. Places like Sea World are seeing a rapid decline in their attendance thanks to regular protests from activists tired of seeing intelligent marine animals forced to do tricks, living their lives in bathtubs.
My point to all of this is simple, we must continue to speak out against any form of exploitation to animals. There is no place in our society any longer for animals entertaining us. There is no place in our society for animals being forced to fight, race, or perform tricks at their own expense simply to entertain us. This movement towards a cruelty free future is real and it's working so we must all continue to do our parts. Spread the message of compassion, share the positive news stories for animals and speak out against the wrongdoings of humanity. It is up to us to see the end of animal exploitation and I believe we can do it!! :) HAPPY VEG Germany has officially shut down the last of its fur farms ahead of schedule making it completely fur farm free. This is monumental news and will hopefully push other countries that are working towards going fur far free as well by demonstrating it is entirely possible. The last fur farm operational in Germany shut down ahead of schedule because of mounting pressure from activists and repeated, unannounced government visits. Fur is arguably the most unnecessary and cruel industries that utilizes animals. Unlike meat production, fur is simply for clothing and novelty items and has no other purpose aside from "fashion". Much like trophy hunting, it is an abhorrent industry that takes advantage of animals for the sake of it and has no purported value. There is absolutely no argument in defense of fur which is why we are seeing more and more big name fashion labels turning their backs on fur as well. It's an outdated industry that has exploited and abused animals for too long.
The EU is slowly moving towards a completely fur farm free environment as Germany joins the United Kingdom and Austria in banning fur farming entirely. Countries like Norway, Czech Republic, and Luxembourg, are all in the process of banning fur farming as well. I believe we may see the end of fur farming in my lifetime and that makes me incredibly happy but there's still lots of work to do outside the EU in North America.
The United States and Canada are far behind when it comes to animal rights and often turn a blind eye to the suffering of animals. For example, the Canadian seal hunt continues year after year despite the outcries of activists where hundreds of baby seals are bludgeoned to death for their pelts. Canada also has neglected their animal rights laws for decades allowing things like bestiality to continue to be legal under certain pretenses. North America can do better and I hope the EU will put pressure on them to get with the times and at the very least, ban fur farming. Once again, congratulations Germany! The future is fur free <3 HAPPY VEG After nearly two decades of fighting to get this legislation passed, New Mexico has finally made it illegal to organize or participate in coyote killing contests. To date, there were approximately 30 of these contests held in New Mexico every year. In these contests, participants race to kill as many coyotes, the smallest coyotes, the largest etc., and win prizes based on their amount of kills. This "game" is nothing more than an excuse to run around shooting and killing living creatures with absolutely no regard for the coyotes whatsoever. These contests promote animal cruelty and set an example for younger people that these animals are nothing more than prey for us to do with as we please. It sickens me that something like this exists allowing bloodthirsty maniacs to wield guns and shoot and kill animals at will. It's completely sick and deserves this legislation banning it completely.
“There is no documented scientific evidence that coyote-killing contests serve any legitimate wildlife management purpose,” Livestock or wildlife management is arguably necessary when these animals are repeatedly wandering on to farms endangering people and livestock (although I disagree with animals being kept for food either). One could argue the legitimacy of killing a couple coyotes if they frequent a person's property putting them or their animals in danger but killing mass quantities of coyotes has no scientific backing behind it. “Coyotes as a species don’t deserve to be vilified. They are important ecosystem managers that regulate populations of rodents and rabbits which are significant competitors for forage with other native herbivores and even livestock,” Vilified is the perfect word to describe coyotes. They are perceived as nuisance animals that serve no purpose but that is simply not true. Coyotes keep rodents, rabbits, raccoons, and other herbivorous animals that would otherwise overpopulate and damage ecosystems at bay. Arguing that they are a nuisance as an excuse to run rampant on them is simply an excuse to go out and satisfy a desire to kill. Wildlife predators are imperative to keeping an ecosystem healthy and without them the habitat they typically live in suffers tremendously. “These contests are abhorrent and unjustifiable — they are neither hunting nor wildlife management,” These are perfect words to describe these contests. There is nothing more to it than a bunch of a$$holes who want to play with their guns and kill animals, it's as simple as that. Anyone who thinks that running around killing as many animals as you can is fun needs to look into some serious mental rehabilitation. I'm so happy to hear that New mexico has made this very important step towards better animal rights and even happier than hundreds of coyotes will be spared being brutally murdered in the name of perverted fun.
HAPPY VEG |
Stay educated and remain involved in animal welfare. Together, we can all make a difference!
Archives
April 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed
Proudly powered by Weebly