www.ctvnews.ca/canada/jann-arden-petitions-ottawa-to-ban-live-horse-exports-for-slaughter-1.6281248 The Liberal Party of Canada made banning the live export of horses part of their campaign. Despite this, our country continues to ship thousands of horses every year from where they're bred in Alberta, across the globe to where they're slaughtered for meat in Japan. Multiple campaigns have been initiated in order to pressure the Liberal government to hold true to their promises, and put an end to the cruel, live export of horses. I do not own this photo. Photo taken from CTV News. ca Live exports are currently a hot issue across the globe right now with New Zealand having recently banned the practice altogether. These journeys are perilous for animals who are treated as products as opposed to living creatures who often feel fear / distress in these situations. In the case of horses, they're crammed in to wooden crates and left on the tarmac sometimes for hours, sensitive to noise and surrounded by plane engines revving up. Once loaded on to the plane, they travel for in upwards of 24 hours or more, unable to eat, drink, or sleep. All of this cruelty to horses and for such a miniscule contribution to our GDP, we should be ashamed. Throughout history, horses have played a crucial role in society and our continued development. Here we are now in 2023, shipping them off to be slaughtered for meat, despite a majority of Canadians supporting a ban on live horse exports and a general disdain for horse meat / slaughter. Although you can still find horse meat on menus throughout Quebec, the general populous does not consume horse and supports a ban on the export of horses for consumption. Canada has a piss poor track record on animal welfare, but we have an opportunity to do the right thing by banning live horse exports and the Liberal Government must stick to their campaign promises. Learn more about live horse exports and some of the campaigns to end this practice by visiting the attached links at the top of this post. We must hold the Liberal Government accountable. HAPPY VEG
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An undercover investigation found over 350 items carved from ivory from 20 different stores across Florida, signaling a thriving ivory market despite a ban on any new import of ivory. During the investigation, store owners were unable to provide the necessary documentation for their ivory, indicating that they either did not know or understand the laws surrounding ivory sales, or intended to recuperate some of the money spent on purchasing these products for sale. Despite a ban on importing new ivory, it's obvious that the ivory market is thriving in Florida and elephants will continue to plunge towards extinction.
Since the 1960's, African savannah elephants have dwindled by 60% while bush elephants have plunged by almost 80%. Elephants face plenty of perils to their survival including habitat loss, fragmentation, difficulties finding food / water, conflicts with villages resulting in injury or death, trophy hunting, and illegal poaching for their ivory. Elephants killed for their ivory suffer excruciating deaths, having their tusks hacked from their faces, sometimes while the elephants are still alive. This blatant disregard for elephant survival and a sick yearning for monetary rewards continue to fuel the ivory trade. Despite bans across the globe, the illegal market continues to thrive and we must do more to counter this before it's too late. It's obvious that Florida has a thriving market and doesn't do enough to prevent imports or crack down on ivory being sold throughout the state. Florida is contributing to the elephants' extinction and if they do not enact a ban on ivory altogether, elephants will continue to suffer. The possibility of elephant extinction is real. Our too little, too late approach to conservation isn't working. When it comes to the possibility of a species going extinct, especially when it is almost entirely traced back to humanity, we have an obligation to do as much as we can to prevent that outcome. We need bans on trophy hunting of elephants and we need investigations in to Florida's retailers to crack down on illegal ivory sales. If the market is still there, abolish the market entirely and ban ANY ivory sales, even those supposedly from ivory grandfathered in after the nationwide ban was implemented. We are directly responsible for the decimation of elephants. We're eradicating pangolins for their scales, giraffes for their bones or heads for trophies, tigers for their bones / blood for "medicines', etc., nothing on this planet is safe from our continued yearning for more. At this rate, we'll be the only specie sleft on this planet outside of factory farmed animals and those confined behind bars at zoos. It's not too late to change this. We must do everything we can to prevent extinction and in Florida, that starts with tackling illegal ivory entering from ports and cracking down on retailers in the state. Learn more by clicking the link at the top of this post to the original story from World Animal News. HAPPY VEG
There is a long, drawn out debate over horse-carriages and whether they belong on our streets any longer. Horse-carriage operators have long argued that the horses they "employ" are treated with kindness and love, and are well taken care of, but refuse to touch on the obvious perils that these horses face in today's society. Horse-carriages were once the main mode of transportation in our history, but today, they are nothing more than novelty rides for tourists. These carriages have to finagle busy streets full of vehicular pollution, often times in very hot / very cold or wet weather. Outside of weather, they face the possibility of vehicular collisions, pollution ingestion, and stress from all of the noise and commotion around them. Not to mention the many videos we've all unfortunately seen of horses collapsing on busy streets. The fact is, horse-drawn carriages belong in our history, not on today's streets. The only responsible thing to do is retire the horses to sanctuaries after their many years of service and move to electric. If this becomes law in Philadelphia, my hope is that other states that continue to offer these novelty rides to tourists will also follow suit. Even one horse collapsing is one too many, and a clear indication that they just don't belong on our busy streets any longer. Retiring the horses in favour of electric is the responsible, humane, and compassionate thing to do and Philadelphia is setting the bar high for the remainder of the United States. It's time to end horse-drawn novelty rides and shift to electric models. Retire the horses! Learn more by clicking the link at the top of this post for the original story from World Animal News! HAPPY VEGCanada is eyeing a ban on cosmetics testing on animals. The federal budget of 2023 included an amendment to the Food & Drugs Act to prohibit testing on animals for cosmetics. Currently, there are no requirements that cosmetics be tested on animals, but there are also no rules that prevent either, allowing companies to continue their testing on animals despite it not being a requirement. Currently, Canada trails over 40 countries on our planet who have already enacted bans on cosmetics testing, another example of Canada's lackluster animal welfare track record. Cosmetics testing on animals is nothing short of animal cruelty and exploitation. We're not talking about medicine that could save humanity here, we're talking about lipsticks, mascaras, lotions, and body washes. These products are NOT necessities to our survival, they are novelty products, and we are subjecting innocent animals to endless tests, when it's been proven numerous times that results in animal tests do not always translate to humans. We torture animals for products we don't even need, a blatant display of exploitation and cruelty to animals who live their short lives in fear.
Animals subjected to cosmetics testing have products rubbed on their skin, dripped in their eyes, and ingested in order to determine whether they cause a reaction. These animals who have reactions are then left to suffer with painful lesions, rashes, and risk blindness while confined to tiny cages. Once their usefulness runs dry, they are discarded like trash, no longer serving a purpose. They spend what little time they have on this planet in pain, emotionally & mentally scarred from their experience, only to have their lives abruptly ended. What we do to these animals in the name of cosmetics is sickening, outdated, and cruel. There is no place on our planet for this type of cruelty to animals when other testing methods are available and even more accurate. Canada has an opportunity to do the right thing by animals. Our country has a shameful animal welfare track record with our seal hunts, continued production of fur, and live horse exports. We need to do more, and it starts with banning products tested on animals from being sold in our country. This MUST be passed. Learn more through the link at the top of this post. HAPPY VEGThe United States Fish & Wildlife Services, announced last week that the common hippo may warrant endangered species act protections. The announcement comes after a collection of animal advocacy groups sent intentions to sue the USFWS on World Hippo Day for their inaction in meeting deadlines to assess the hippo and its need for protections. The USFWS now has four days to assess and determine whether the hippo requires ESA protections. While they will likely miss that deadline, the hippo is still on track to receive necessary protections.
There are anywhere from 115, 000 - 148, 000 common hippos remaining in the wild, a number that has dropped significantly in the past 20 years. Hippos in the wild face many perils to their survival including habitat loss, human conflict / retaliatory conflict, drought, poaching, and legal hunting for sport. The United States is one of the leading contributors to the decline of hippos, having imported parts from over 9, 000 hippos between 2009 - 2018. Hippo parts imported including leather for clothes, boots, & purses, teeth, ivory, carvings, and trophies including heads on mounts. Considering the many natural perils hippos face, humans should NOT be contributing further to their demise through legal hunting for sport. That's where the Endangered Species Act would play a crucial role. Issuing Endangered Species Act protections to hippos would be life-saving for the species. These protections would nearly ban all imports of hippo parts, increase awareness of the perils hippos face, and increase necessary funding to aid in conservation. These protections are absolutely crucial in protecting a species. In fact, Endangered Species Act protections have helped a whopping 99% of the species listed, a near perfect track record. Without these protections, hippos will continue to be hunted for sport, have their heads mounted walls across the world, and plunge further towards inevitable extinction. I'll update as more information becomes available. Let's get hippos protected under the Endangered Species Act! HAPPY VEG |
Stay educated and remain involved in animal welfare. Together, we can all make a difference!
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